Well, Its December 1....

[DoubleJayAlum]

How do the results so far compare with what you expected entering the season? Based on where I had teams picked, here is what I've got so far:

Outperforming expectations:
Creighton. Although picked by many to win the league (but not this poster), I don't think even the biggest CU homers expected them to be undefeated at this point.

Northern Iowa. Except for the egg laid at St Mary's, which was most likely due to poor scheduling, UNI has been very solid. Tuttle is probably the initial front runner for FOY.

Illinois St. Picked to finish toward the bottom of the league by most everyone, ISU looks very solid, with great length and good athleticism. Looked really good in MTE.

Underperforming expectations:
Wichita St. I had WSU winning the league, so I think they fit here at the moment. Seem to have some issues with team chemistry and decision making. Relying an awful lot on the three point shot. A win against UNLV this weekend is probably needed to keep at large hopes alive.

Evansville. I fell for this trap and had them ranked pretty high in my conference selections. Their lack of any big men looks to be a major hurdle.

Verdict is not yet in:
Missouri St. Before last night, I had MSU in the Outperforming category. Last night's game however, has left me unsure about where this team belongs.

Drake See comments posted above for MSU.

Indiana St. W/L record is very sound, but InSU is having a much more difficult time winning some of these games than I thought they would. Could just as easily be in the Meeting Expectations category.

Meeting expectations:
Bradley and SIU. I thought these teams would stink out loud and they haven't disappointed. Bradley's loss at home to Wofford is still a stunner, even with a ninth or tenth place predicted finish. SIU's loss to Ohio Dominican (or whatever the hell they are called) was even worse; thank goodness it doesn't count for anything....

[BirdmanBB]

Creighton is exactly what I expected them to be. Solid....best team in the valley.

WSU has been somewhat of a dissapointment, but they do get a chance to redeem and help themselves out. Thank you UNLV.

UNI also better than I had thought they would be after losing Ahelegba(sp?) Only game I watched of them was against St. Mary's and I thought they looked gassed.

MSU I am still trying to figure them out as well. On paper you would think they aren't that good, but they have been outperforming my expectations thus far. I don't think ORU is a bad loss as they are solid team. We shall see if they bounce back. I have my doubts about weems as he is a 2nd half player. Could be palying from behind a lot in the valley.

Drake is another team that was outperforming, but then dropped the game to Boise St. in an embarrassing fashion. I don't know if they were just having an off night, Boise was having an on night or they just figured out how to beat Drake. I think any teams with height are going to be a challenge for them.

UE...I think I can say everything that I said about Drake again for UE

Indiana St. Had a woulda coulda shoulda against Minnesota. I actually turned off the game at one point thinking they had it. Jury is still out on them, but they are a team that should keep improving as we go on.

Illinois St....warning...homer bias. I have to say I am impressed with the way we have played so far. Again, we played a lot of cupcakes, but when you have been playing them for as long as we have you develop an eye for sifting through the garbage. It has been a complete 360 with our shooting this year. I think a lot of near miss games we lost last year will be wins this year. I wish we could have the Fresno St. game back because we are playing nowhere close to that game as we are now. This is a team that will return in full next year. I really do believe we have a chance to finish anywhere from 3-6 in the valley at this point. Nic Moore will be another candidate for FOY. He is doing wonders for our team and once everyone gets used to his slick passing there will be less turnovers and more assists.

SIU and BU....ditto to what wildjays said. I am afraid though that when Taylor Brown graduates, BU will be worse off next year than they are this year. I really hope we will be talking about how good SIU's new coach is at this point next year.

[2livewu]

How do the results so far compare with what you expected entering the season? Based on where I had teams picked, here is what I've got so far:

Outperforming expectations:
Creighton. Although picked by many to win the league (but not this poster), I don't think even the biggest CU homers expected them to be undefeated at this point.

Northern Iowa. Except for the egg laid at St Mary's, which was most likely due to poor scheduling, UNI has been very solid. Tuttle is probably the initial front runner for FOY.

Illinois St. Picked to finish toward the bottom of the league by most everyone, ISU looks very solid, with great length and good athleticism. Looked really good in MTE.

Underperforming expectations:
Wichita St. I had WSU winning the league, so I think they fit here at the moment. Seem to have some issues with team chemistry and decision making. Relying an awful lot on the three point shot. A win against UNLV this weekend is probably needed to keep at large hopes alive.

Evansville. I fell for this trap and had them ranked pretty high in my conference selections. Their lack of any big men looks to be a major hurdle.

Verdict is not yet in:
Missouri St. Before last night, I had MSU in the Outperforming category. Last night's game however, has left me unsure about where this team belongs.

Drake See comments posted above for MSU.

Indiana St. W/L record is very sound, but InSU is having a much more difficult time winning some of these games than I thought they would. Could just as easily be in the Meeting Expectations category.

Meeting expectations:
Bradley and SIU. I thought these teams would stink out loud and they haven't disappointed. Bradley's loss at home to Wofford is still a stunner, even with a ninth or tenth place predicted finish. SIU's loss to Ohio Dominican (or whatever the hell they are called) was even worse; thank goodness it doesn't count for anything....

Good stuff. I expected more than you did out of CU, but they are even better than I anticipated. That is a solid team that is fun to watch, even if you don't like them.

Agree with UNI, not so much with ISUR and not with MSU. I just didn't think MSU would be good at all. When I have seen them, they've been better than I ever thought they would.

I also move up ISUB as much like UNI, they just win.

For all the heat WSU takes, they are a missed 23 foot wing 3 from being awfully solid at 4-1, but they have to win.

Even in the worst case scenario, I didn't think SIU would be as bad as they've been.

[MoValley John]

Better than expected:
Creighton
Missouri State
Northern Iowa
Bradley
As expected:
Wichita State
Indiana State
Illinois State

Below Expectations:
Drake
Evansville
SIU

I didn't expect Creighton to be undefeated, and I'm always skeptical of hype, but they look a lot better than I would expect. Missouri State is really hard to judge, but only having one loss with four new starters and a new coach, yep, way above expectations. Northern Iowa is also performing higher than expected. A young team usually has more than one loss now. I predicted Bradley at number nine or ten. They don't have a lot of depth, but they look like sixth or seventh.

Wichita State is about where I expected them. I expected a loss or two in Puerto Rico. I also expected them to demolish the teams they demolished. They have met my expectations. Indiana State is a tough call. One loss, but close games and giving up leads. I expect more from a contender. I expected more from Indiana State. Illinois State is beating up on cupcakes. Nothing unexpected to see here, folks.

Drake falls below expectations simply based on the game last night. That game exposed them. Before last night I might have had them exceeding my expectations. I had Evansville as top four, they look far from a top four team and SIU is SIU.... I know it is hard to say SIU is not meeting expectations, but SIU is not.

[ACECARD]

Evansville. I fell for this trap and had them ranked pretty high in my conference selections. Their lack of any big men looks to be a major hurdle.


Pretty much agree with all the expectations, but will only comment on the Aces. A lot of us fell for the trap, and had them picked way too high. If the freshmen, and Peeler, can't give them more of an inside presence than they are getting now, the Aces are a Thursday team for sure.

[pafan]

“No doubt we have to finish better. We have to start better. And we have to play better in between” - Marty Simmons today at practice.

[glm38]

I agree with MVC John about the Bears. Despite the bad loss last night we are 4 - 1. With 4 new starters and a new coach that's performing way above expectations.

WSU is right where I thought they would be.

Even though Creighton was picked by many to win the league I still think they are above expectations. They've looked very, very good.

[NEI Panther]

I don't really agree with all the hype that we are a young team.

Look at the players that are playing the bulk of our minutes:

Moran SR- 4th yr
Koch JR - 4th yr
James JR - 4th yr
Pehl JR - 4th yr (Gave up scholorship to recruit Olivier)
Sonnen JR - 3rd yr
Morrison SO - 3rd yr
Rank SO - 2nd yr
Buss FR - 2nd yr (out for season broken arm)
Martino FR - 2nd yr (presidential scholarship)

Now here is the young, but really only two are seeing significant time
Mitchell True Fr - Start
Tuttle True Fr - Start
Singleton True FR - 5 to 7 minutes per game, would have redshirted if Pehl and Olivier were not hurt at beginng of the season

Redshirts
Olivier FR (6' 9", would have played this year if he wasn't injured - foot)
Bohanon FR
Lyle FR

[unifight789]

I agree. The two starting freshmen and only one senior make us look young on paper but overall I think UNI is more experienced than last year. Yes we lost Kwadzo and O'Rear but overall everyone, other than the 2 freshman that play significant minutes, are in a similar role as last year. When we started the year last year, just about everyone was stepping into a new extended role and took a while for them to get going.

[uniftw]

I don't really agree with all the hype that we are a young team.

Look at the players that are playing the bulk of our minutes:

Moran SR- 4th yr
Koch JR - 4th yr
James JR - 4th yr
Pehl JR - 4th yr (Gave up scholorship to recruit Olivier)
Sonnen JR - 3rd yr
Morrison SO - 3rd yr
Rank SO - 2nd yr
Buss FR - 2nd yr (out for season broken arm)
Martino FR - 2nd yr (presidential scholarship)

Now here is the young, but really only two are seeing significant time
Mitchell True Fr - Start
Tuttle True Fr - Start
Singleton True FR - 5 to 7 minutes per game, would have redshirted if Pehl and Olivier were not hurt at beginng of the season

Redshirts
Olivier FR (6' 9", would have played this year if he wasn't injured - foot)
Bohanon FR
Lyle FR

We are a young team....You are confusing young with inexperienced.

There is one senior on this team...ONE. Any team with only one senior is going to qualify as young, unless the other 14 roster spots are juniors.


UNI has good experiences, but is a young team....especially given the fact that 2 true freshman are starting.