2020-21 Media Bracket

Posted on November 23, 2020 by John Stalica

With the release of the preseason AP and Coaches’ polls (along with Matt Norlander’s exhaustive rankings of all D-1 basketball teams), we can now unveil the preseason media bracket for this upcoming season:

As you may have noticed this year, the entirety of the NCAA Tournament for 2021 will be scheduled within the city of Indianapolis (with expected venues including Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, the Indiana Farmers Coliseum and potential venues within 50 miles). Due to the coronavirus pandemic, another change in the bracket this year is that there will be 31 automatic qualifiers since the Ivy League will not participate in the tournament. There are 37 at-large teams listed above.

This also meant that every team that got at least one vote in either poll was able to be included in the field (via both at-large and automatic qualification). Saint Mary’s and Georgia Tech were the last two teams in the field; they would ordinarily have been left out had the Ivy League winner been included and had Auburn not self-imposed a postseason ban for this season. This also resulted in more of a true S-Curve since the need for true geographical regions and subregions is not there this year. BYU would still be placed in a Thursday-Saturday grouping.

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Big Ten Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 23, 2020 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Illionis
  2. Iowa
  3. Wisconsin
  4. Michigan State
  5. Rutgers
  6. Michigan
  7. Ohio State
  8. Indiana
  9. Purdue
  10. Maryland
  11. Minnesota
  12. Penn State
  13. Nebraska
  14. Northwestern

 

MEDIA DAY ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM:

-Luka Garza – Iowa (preseason player of the year)
-Ayo Dosunmu – Illinois
-Trayce Jackson-Davis – Indiana
-Kofi Cockburn – Illinois
-Nate Reuvers – Wisconsin
-Franz Wagner – Michigan

 

NOTES FROM DAVID:

-Illinois is getting all kinds of preseason love, and it makes sense to a point.  They were much improved last year, they have four starters back and it looks like that improvement will continue, and the are well coached, deep, and balanced.  As much as I like them, I don’t know if I like them so much that I think they’ll win the Big Ten, but I do think that they are a legit protected seed caliber team this year.

-Iowa is another team that returns a ton of talent from a team that was pretty damn good a year ago, including Luka Garza who is one of the best players in the country.  Fran McCaffery may have the best team at Iowa that he has ever had, and a first place finish in the Big Ten as well as a deep NCAA Tournament run are not out of the question.

-If I had a vote, Wisconsin would be my pick.  Head coach Greg Gard has been prone to a few slow starts in recent years, but this team lost just one game in February/March last year, and with so much talent coming back they are one of the best teams in the country and someone that we may see as high as the #1 line.  They will do a great job controlling the tempo, but play tough defense, and are hard to defend on offense.  They have so many weapons, and will be a ton of fun to watch.

-Michigan State looks to replace two of their better players from a year ago, but this is a program that never struggles to reload on talent, and they have enough in the fold to once again compete for a protected seed and be a force in the conference.  They can score on offense, play very tough and physical defense, and have a fair amount of depth.

-Rutgers had a bit of a breakout season last year, but I think they will have a full blown breakout season this year.  They struggled on the road in terms of getting wins, but they were seemingly competitive in every road loss, and experience plays a big role in being able to win on the road.  Now that they are more experienced, I expect a lot of those results to flip this year, and that Rutgers will not just make the field, but will be solidly inside the bubble and inside the Top 25 for much of the year.

-Michigan had their ups and downs last year, but their ups were good enough to indicate that what they have coming back this year (along with the new pieces that they are adding) that this is likely a solid NCAA Tournament caliber team.  Juwan Howard showed quite a bit of promise as a first  year head coach last year.

-Ohio State is a team that I like a little more than the media.  I know they lost quite a bit from last year, but it’s not like they’re completely devoid of talent.  Head coach Chris Holtmann also has a history of surpassing preseason expectations that goes all the way back to his days at Gardner Webb, so you don’t want to overlook the Buckeyes.

-There is reason for Indiana to hope.  Four starters are back from a 20 win team a year ago, and while they haven’t been consistent, they have had some pretty impressive moments over the years.  The problem is that Archie Miller is running out of time to produce the way IU fans expect him to, and that means not just making the NCAA Tournament, but going deep into it.  They have three really solid looking freshmen to add to the experience that they have coming back, so the ingredients for success are definitely there.

-Matt Painter and Purdue took a big step back last year after nearly making the Final Four.  I think they’ll be better this year with a good chance of making the NCAA Tournament, but I don’t see them being a national power like they were a few years back.

-Maryland is a little lower than where we are used to seeing them, which is kind of a surprise.  This is a team that tied for first place last year, and while they did lose some key pieces they do have some experience coming back that would lead you to believe that they could at least contend for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

-Minnesota is in a bit of a rebuilding mode, but some at Hoops HD like them as a potential dark horse.  I must admit that I am not one of them.

-Penn State has had a rough and rocky offseason after having such a good season a year ago.  I think they are faced with a long and hard rebuilding project.

-Northwestern and Nebraska also have a long, hard climb to get back to being relevant in the conference.

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West Coast Conference Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 23, 2020 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Gonzaga
  2. BYU
  3. Saint Mary’s
  4. Pepperdine
  5. San Francisco
  6. Santa Clara
  7. LMU
  8. Pacific
  9. San Diego
  10. Portland

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE:

-Joel Ayayi – JR, G – Gonzaga
-Alex Barcello – SR, G – BYU
-Jamaree Bouyea – SR, G – San Francisco
-Kessler Edwards – JR, F – Pepperdine
-Corey Kispert – SR, F – Gonzaga
-Colbey Ross – SR, G – Pepperdine
-Eli Scott – SR, G – LMU
-Matthias Tass – JR, C – Saint Mary’s
-Drew Timme – SO, F – Gonzaga
-Josip Vrankic – SR, F – Santa Clara

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Ladies and Gentlemen! In a STUNNING devleopment, Gonzaga is your preseason favorite to win the WCC this year!!  This was a team that would have almost undoubtedly been on the 1 line a year ago with a solid chance of going back to the Final Four, so they were among the programs that you felt really sorry for when the NCAA Tournament was cancelled.  If it’s any consolation it appears as though they have a good chance of getting back there this year, and despite all the complications they managed to put together the kind of OOC schedule that is conducive to a #1 seed and a #1 ranking.  They did lose some key pieces, but with the returning players and how good the newcomers look this is a team that is good enough to cut down the nets in Indianapolis this year.

-BYU is a team with an outstanding frontcourt, a solid backcourt with some guys that can hit from outside, and a lot of depth as well (which could be a key factor this season).  I think they are capable of pretty much running away from the rest of the league with the exception of Gonzaga.

-Saint Mary’s is always in the NCAA Tournament conversation and this year will likely be no different.  Only two starters are back, and Jordan Ford is not one of them, so the Gaels will be relying on guys from last year’s team to step into bigger roles.  We may see them take a bit of a step back, but I still think they can land inside the bubble by the end of the year.

-San Francisco has been a ton to watch in recent years.  While they haven’t made the NCAA Tournament, they’ve won 20+ games in each of the last four seasons, which is a sign that this program is improving and starting to gain some momentum.  Head coach Todd Golden will look to continue that trend with three double digit scorers returning and some guys that look like they could step into bigger roles this year.

-I’m a little surprised that Santa Clara is not getting a little more preseason love.  Four starters are back from a team that won 20 games a year ago, and the program has made noticeable improvements under head coach Herb Sendek that are likely to continue into this season.

-Pacific has three starters back from a team that won 23 games and finished in 3rd place a year ago.  They will be joined by three key transfers.  There isn’t a whole lot of preseason love for this Pacific team, but I think they are a potential dark horse that may end up doing much better than expected.

-Quite a bit of preseason love for Pepperdine this year, who returns four starters from a year ago.  Lorenzo Romar appears to have them going in the right direction so we shall see if that improvement can continue into this season.

-LMU had a rather unspectacular 11 season a year ago and are in rebuilding mode now with four starters gone.

-Not much to say about San Diego and Portland other than I think they’ll be in a three way race for 8th place with LMU.

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MAC Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 23, 2020 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Bowling Green
  2. Ohio U
  3. Akron
  4. Buffalo
  5. Ball State
  6. Toledo
  7. Kent State
  8. Eastern Michigan
  9. Miami, OH
  10. Northern Illinois
  11. Central Michigan
  12. Western Michigan

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM:

-Loren Cristian Jackson – SR, G – Akron
-Justin Turner – SR, G – Bowling Green
-Jayvon Graves – SR, G – Buffalo
-Jason Preston – JR, G – Ohio U
-Marreon Jackson – SR, G – Toledo

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM:

-Ishmael El-Amin – SR, G – Ball State
-Daeqwon Plowden – SR, F – Bowling Green
-Josh Mballa – JR, F – Buffalo
-Danny Pippen – SR, F – Kent State
-Ben Vander Plas – JR, F – Ohio U

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-It’s hard to not be excited about Bowling Green this year.  Justin Turner is one of the best players in the conference, and with a mixture of some other key returning players and good looking newcomers this could finally be the year where Bowling Green goes dancing.  Expect to see them in the UTR Top Ten for most of the year.

-Akron is another team that I like this year.  Although Loren Cristian Jackson is the only returning starter, they have a lot of guys who do have experience that are back and that should be able to step into key roles.  Also, if you could only get one starter back, you’d want it to be him.  Also joining the team is Taylor Currie, who averaged over 24ppg and over 10rpg as a JUCO player last year.

-Ohio was playing pretty well down the stretch last year and had quite a bit of momentum going into the (cancelled) MAC Tournament.  While they’re getting a lot of preseason love, they did lose some pretty key pieces to last year’s team and I question if they can replace that and be good enough to compete for a league title.  I’m a huge fan of their coach Jeff Boals, so I don’t want to underestimate him.

-Buffalo had a fairly impressive season last year considering all that they lost from the year before, and I think that momentum could be carried into this year.  They did lose some key players, but are solid in both the froncourt and the backcourt and could once again be looking at 20+ wins (well, if it were a normal season anyway)

-Ball State has three starters back, and an experienced and talented backcourt that they will be relying on.  They also played well in the last month of the season last year and are another team that I think has the chance to exceed expectations this year.

-Toledo looks to have some solid transfer players and if they can get some production out of them they could be a dangerous team this year.

-Kent State is one of the better programs in the MAC, but they will likely struggle this year with just one starter back.  They are kind of in a rebuild mode right now.  They do have some solid looking transfers and newcomers, though, so I don’t expect the league to just walk all over them.

-Eastern Michigan has four starters back, and that experience should help them out, but I don’t think they quite have what it takes to finish in the top half of the league.

-Miami OH, like Eastern Michigan, has four starters back, and while experience does help it looks as though they’ll need more than what they have to compete with the teams at the top of the league.

-Northern Illinois tied for first place in their division a year ago, but they’ve lost so much that it looks like they’ll have an uphill battle this year.

-Western Michigan and Central Michigan look to be in for a long season as well.

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WAC Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 23, 2020 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. New Mexico State
  2. Grand Canyon
  3. UTRGV
  4. CA Baptist
  5. Seattle
  6. Tarleton
  7. Utah Valley
  8. Dixie State
  9. Chicago State

 

MEDIA DAY ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM:

-Alessandro Lever – SR, C – Grand Canyon
-Javon Levi – SR, G – UTRGV
-Johnny McCants – SR, F – New Mexico State
-Jabari Rice – JR, G – New Mexico State
-Donnie Tillman – SR, F – New Mexico State

MEDIA DAY ALL CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM:

-Jovan Blacksher – SO, G – Grand Canyon
-Oscar Frayer – SR, F – Grand Canyon
-Riley Grigsby – JR, G/F – Seattle
-Evan Gilyard – SR, G – New Mexico State
-Hunter Scholfield – SO, F – Dixie State

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-New Mexico State clearly looks to be the best team.  As dominant as they have been in this league since…well…really the time it adopted it’s current format, I personally feel they’ve been short changed the national recognition that they probably deserve.  Two years ago this was one of the 25 best teams in the country, but because of how the rankings work they just never got up there.  As a #12 seed they have Auburn (who went to the Final Four) pretty much beat and kind of blew it.  I don’t say that to criticize them, but to outline that it was New Mexico State’s mistakes moreso than Auburn’s dominance that led to Auburn getting beat.  Had New Mexico State won that I don’t think they would have gone to the Final Four, but I do think they make the Sweet Sixteen and get some of the national recognition they deserve.  Last year they were plagued with injuries throughout the year and while good, were never at full strength.  And like everyone else they didn’t get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament.  This year, they should again dominate the league, and probably win the auto bid, and probably once again be in a position to win a game in the Round of 64 if they stay healthy and get the right match-up.

-Grand Canyon had a disappointing season a year ago which led to the firing of Thunder Dan Majerle.  He is replaced by Bryce Drew, who is an OUTSTANDING coach who I think will do very well with this program when you consider how much GCU puts into basketball.  I think they’ll be better this year, but not quite good enough to knock off New Mexico State and win the league.  They do add some quality freshmen that should be good for the future of the program.

After that…it’s hard to get all that excited about anyone else

-UTGRV is picked to finish 3rd.  They finished 3rd a year ago, but lost a lot of key pieces from that team

-I like what this CA Baptist program has done since transitioning up, but I don’t see them playing their way into the top two of the league this year.

-Seattle has just one starter back and appears to be rebuilding

-Tarleton and Dixie State are playing in their first transitional year this year, so we will definitely be keeping an eye on them as they are newcomers to D1

-Utah Valley will be in complete rebuilding mode after losing all five starters from a year ago.

-Chicago State will likely again be at the bottom of the league, and perhaps the bottom of all of D1.  It is mind-boggling how this program continues to perform at such a crappy level.  They’ve won 4 games or fewer in 4 of the last 5 years, and although four starters are back we may see that trend continue.  Being located in Chicago, which isn’t exactly a dead zone for basketball talent, you’d think they could at least put together a team that could finish in the top 250 of the nation and not always be at the bottom.

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Summit League Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 23, 2020 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for all of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. South Dakota State
  2. Oral Roberts
  3. North Dakota State
  4. Omaha
  5. South Dakota
  6. North Dakota
  7. Kansas City
  8. Denver
  9. Western Illinois

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON 1ST TEAM ALL CONFERENCE:

-Noah Freidel – SO, G – South Dakota State
-Kevin Obanor –  JR, F – Oral Roberts
-Matt Pile – SR, F – Omaha
-Filip Rebracka – JR, F – North Dakota
-Stanley Umude – SR, F – South Dakota
-Douglas Wilson – SR, F – South Dakota State

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON 2ND TEAM ALL CONFERENCE:

-Max Abmas – SO, G – Oral Roberts
-Matt Dentlinger – JR, F – South Dakota State
-Rocky Kreuser – SR, F – North Dakota State
-Marlon Ruffin – JR, G/F – Omaha
-Jase Townsend – JR, G – Denver

 

NOTES FROM DAVID:

-South Dakota State is the consensus pick to win the league, and a team that we will likely see In the UTR Top Ten for most of the season.  All five starters are back from a team that finished in first place a year ago and won 22 games.  They were bounced early on in the Summit League quarterfinals (which seems to happen often to the top teams in this league), but that hardly takes away from what their potential is for this season.  They haven an amazing front court player in Douglass Wilson and have a balanced attack overall with quite a bit of depth.  It will be fun seeing how far they can go this year.

-Oral Roberts is another team that got quite a bit of preseason love.  They did see quite a bit of improvement last season after four straight losing seasons prior to that, and they do have some good pieces back that are joined by some good looking transfer players.

-North Dakota State has been amongst the class of the league in recent years, and while they probably aren’t going to be considered first place contenders this year they still have a really good looking team.  They will be relying on some new freshmen and JUCO transfers along with their two returning starters this year.

-Summit League newcomers Kansas City have four starters back from a team that was playing pretty well down the stretch.  I don’t think they’ll be in the mix to finish in first place, but I do think they can make a pretty big splash in their first year in the conference.  I’m a little surprised that they received so little preseason love.

-Omaha returns two starters, but lost quite a bit from last year and appears to be rebuilding this year.

-South Dakota was a lot of fun to watch last year, but with just two starters back they also appear to be rebuilding.

-North Dakota is also going through a rebuilding process and will likely struggle to finish in the top half of the league.

-Denver and Western Illinois (who has one of the greatest nicknames in all of college basketball!) will probably be fighting it out for 8th place and the final spot in the Summit League Tournament this year.

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