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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- TAMUCC
- Nicholls
- New Orleans
- SELA
- McNeese
- Northwestern State
- TAMU Commerce
- Houston Christian
- Lamar
- Incarnate Word
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-SOUTHLAND 1ST TEAM:
-Latrell Jones – SR, G – Nicholls
-Terrion Murdix – SR, G – TAMUCC
-Isaac Mushila – SR, F – TAMUCC
-Christian Shumate – SO, F – McNeese
-Trevian Tennyson – SR, G – TAMUCC
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-SOUTHLAND 2ND TEAM:
-Simeon Fryer – SR, G – TAMUCC
-Tyson Jackson – JR, F – New Orleans
-Simeon Kirkland – SR, F – New Orleans
-Manny Littles – SR, F – Nicholls
-Pierce Spencer – JR, G – Nicholls
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
Several of the top level programs in the Southland bolted for other conferences. It now seems to be destined for the champion to end up on the #16 line. Last year, half the league failed to finish in the top-300 of the NET and it will likely be the same kind of results this year.
-TAMUCC is the preseason favorite. They have five starters back from a team that won the conference tournament a year ago and won 6 of their last 7 heading into the NCAA Tournament. It was a huge improvement after winning just 5 total games the year before and they may be able to take another big step forward this year.
-Nicholls was the 1st place team a year ago but they return just two starters from that team. Still, the expectations are high as they look to add some transfers to their roster and get some production out of them.
-New Orleans lost their top player from last year’s team that finished 2nd in the conference, but does have three starters back and is expected to be near the top of the league again this year. They will also be adding some transfers into the mix and will be hoping they can step into key roles right away.
-After finishing in a tie for 2nd place last year, SELA has just one starter back and is in a bit of rebuilding mode this year. They will be looking to replace…well…pretty much everything.
-McNeese has three starters back from a team that was just 4-10 in the league last year, but with that experience should show some improvement this year.
-Northwestern State has just one starter back and will be turning to some transfers and incoming freshmen to try and rebuild their roster. They struggled last year with just 9 total wins and will likely struggle again this year.
-Welcome to D1 TAMU Commerce!! The good news is that once they get into conference play they can probably compete with some of the teams at the bottom of the league despite being a transitional program. The fact that they are not picked to finish last should tell you something about how (not) good the bottom half of this conference is.
-Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) has two starters back from last year and the expectations for this year are remarkably low.
-Lamar won just two games last year, and Incarnate Word has not had a 10-win season in the last five years. The question is: what are the chances that one of these teams will win the Centenary?