SOUTHLAND MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL AS DONE BY @GROK SINCE THE CONFERENCE DID NOT RELEASE ONE:
- McNeese
- Lamar
- Nicholls
- SELA
- TAMU-CC
- Stephen F. Austin
- Northwestern State
- Incarnate Word
- New Orleans
- TAMU-Commerce (this school no longer exists, but Grok picked them anyway!!)
- Houston Christian
- East Texas A&M
-Grok did NOT rank UTRGV!!!!!! That is HARSH!!!!
GROK’S PRESEASON AWARD FOR BEST MASCOT: Edgy (Northwestern State). Our sincere congrats to the FIRST-EVER mascot to receive a preseason award from an AI Generator!!!
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-McNeese has dominated the conference for the last two seasons with a combined record of 36-2 in SLC play, and that does not include the back-to-back tournament championships. Last year they won a game in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament, so they have been one of the top Under the Radar programs in the country. It makes complete sense that they would be Grok’s pick to win the league this year!! There is one VERY notable change, and that is that Coach Will Wade, who was largely responsible for building up the program, has left for NC State. They do have two key starters returning in Javohn Garcia and DJ Richards, who were both double-digit scorers a year ago, and Tyshawn Archie comes in after a fairly impressive year at Tulsa. I do like this team. They are my pick to win the SLC. But, I do not think they will blow through the league like they have the last two years.
-I agree with Grok about Lamar! They had some sluggish stretches to their season last year, but played well down the stretch winning 7 of their last 9 before losing to McNeese in the championship game. Three starters are back from a team that won 20 games and they have added some pretty impressive JUCO players to the roster as well.
-Nicholls is another team that won 20 games last season and returns three of its starters, so I agree with Grok again! I think they will be in the mix for the top of the standings this year. They did lose a lot of their scoring and appear to be turning to some standout players from JUCO and NAIA to fill out the roster, so I do not like them quite as much as Lamar or McNeese, but I do expect them to be closer to the top of the standings than to the bottom.
-SELA is also dealing with the loss of several top scorers. Jalen Forrest from Chicago State was a nice pickup and he should be able to help them out some, but they just do not seem to have much proven D-1 experience at the moment. I have actually got them finishing in the bottom half of the league, so I do not quite agree with Grok on this one.
-TAMU-CC has had four straight 20+ win seasons and had it not been for the overwhelming success of McNeese they would have probably received a lot more credit and attention. Jim Shaw has done a great job in each of his two seasons there as head coach. This year may be tough, though. Just one starter is back. They are looking to fill out their roster with some standout players from the D-2 level and those guys should be able to help right away, but the competition is going to be a lot higher than what they faced in D-2.
-Matt Braeuer takes over as coach at Stephen F. Austin and the days of SFA being a top Under the Radar program now seem like they were a long time ago. Only two players are back from last year’s team and with so much turnover it is really hard to gauge what they will be like this year. They do appear to have a handful of really good outside shooters, so that will be something to watch for.
-Northwestern State has three starters back from a team that was 12-8 in SLC play and looked pretty good in the second half of conference play. I actually like this team a little more than Grok does, although Grok did name their mascot Edgy to be the best in the conference!! As far as how good they are on the court, they return three of their top-five scorers including Micah Thomas (who is a fantastic outside shooter) and Willie Williams (who is a solid rebounder). Izzy Miles transfers in after having a solid year at Tarleton State last year. I like this Northwestern State team and expect them to finish higher in the standings than this.
-Incarnate Word!!! They have struggled ever since transitioning up to D-1, but last year they had a really solid season considering how recently they transitioned. They won 19 games and advanced to the semis of the CBI. Our good friend @TonyPatelis is a CBI Bracketology Expert and he LOVES this team!! In all seriousness, four starters are back on a team that was starting to click toward the end of last year. I think they can finish in the top half of the league this year. Davion Bailey may be one of the better players in the conference, and with Amani Drummond transferring in from Cleveland State, I am legitimately big on Incarnate Word this year! I gotta disagree with Grok on this one! I think they will be quite a bit higher in the standings!!
-If New Orleans can finish 9th it will actually be a notable improvement. After winning just 4 total games last year (and only 2 in conference) it is hard to expect much. MJ Thomas was a decent scorer and rebounder who is returning, and they have some decent transfers in Jakevion Buckley (SELA) and Coleton Benson (Texas State) who were double-digit scorers last year, so perhaps UNO will be a little better.
-Grok has selected TAMU-Commerce to finish 10th. This is a very bold pick. It is a pick I cannot quite agree with. The biggest reason I do not agree is because TAMU-Commerce NO LONGER EXISTS AS AN INSTITUTION! Not existing will likely be problematic when it comes to success on the basketball court. They are now East Texas A&M, who Grok has picked to finish last. They could very well be the worst team in the league. They won just 5 total games last season and while three starters are back and that experience should help them some, I do not see them finishing high in the standings. One notable transfer is Kollin Tolbert, who played at D-2 Concord last year. He averaged over 21ppg and shot an amazing 47% from beyond the arc: that is ridiculous!!
-I do not think Houston Christian is a good team, but I also do not think they are quite this bad. They were 9-11 in conference play a year ago and they have three starters back from that team. I think they will manage to finish ahead of at least a few teams.
-Let’s finish up with UTRGV, who Grok completely left out of his poll. There was a time last season where it looked like they would be one of the better teams in the league. They went to Wisconsin and nearly won the game. They were 10-4 at one point with three of those losses being road buy games that they competed in and they damn near won one of them. Then things sort of fell apart in SLC play. Just one starter is back from that team and they are sort of starting over. Jalen Ricks was a solid player and outside shooter for them a year ago. He will be joined by Marvin McGhee III (who averaged double-figures at Cal State Bakersfield last year) and Zae Blake (who was a fantastic outside shooter at Wagner). So, they have some pieces. They are good enough to where Grok should have at least included them in the poll!! I mean…SHEESH!!
