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I went Valpo here. I just think it's tough to jump into a new conference and immediately win 7+ games to stay out of the bottom six. I'll be impressed if they can do that. Plus I'm enough of a believer in Wardle that I think he can steer Bradley out of Thursday night in his third year.

In the previous voting I picked Drake 10th out of habit, and Evansville 9th based on other commentary here, but thinking it over, I would have put Indiana State last. I don't see a ton of talent there, and an even bigger problem is I haven't seen a lot of effort out of Lansing's groups in the past couple years.

Anyway, my bottom 4 is In St, Drake, Evansville, Valpo.

BCPanther wrote:

oklahomacrusader wrote:Yes, Valpo lost it's best player to the NBA and leaves a lot of questions. However, they will surprise the valley fans and finish top 4

Valpo's ceiling is 5th. They aren't better than UNI, Illinois State, Loyola or Missouri State. They're in the 5th-7th tier with SIU and Bradley.

A down Valley year is still better than the best year the Horizon can put together and I don't think this will be a down Valley year, that was last year.

I wouldn't say 5th is the ceiling for Valpo but I do think anywhere from 4th - 6th is a reasonable expectation.

Valpo graduated a very good senior class which included a NBA player (and two other professional players) but Valpo still has talented but young roster. There will be 6 new players on the active roster. So its reasonable to expect some ups and downs next season and it will depend on how fast this new group can grow together. Another factor is Valpo's bigs are very young. 2 sophomore 7ft centers and 2 Freshman Power Forwards.

2018-2019 is really the year that this Valpo team can do damage but this 2017-2018 team certainly is talented enough to surprise fans. Watch out for Tevonn Walker a senior Shooting Guard who was always the 3rd or 4th option at Valpo most his college career. He's athletic, plays stout defense, and can score & will get more of an opportunity to shine on the offensive end this season.

This is the spot that whoever gets it will be extremely displeased. I went with SIU.

AndShock wrote:This is the spot that whoever gets it will be extremely displeased. I went with SIU.

I think SIU is very underrafed. I actually think southern finishes third. Loyola fourth.

Jsnhbe1Birds wrote:

AndShock wrote:This is the spot that whoever gets it will be extremely displeased. I went with SIU.

I think SIU is very underrafed. I actually think southern finishes third. Loyola fourth.

I agree, I think I'll have them in my top 4 ; no offense, but I like their roster better than both UNI and Illinois State and Barry is a more accomplished coach than many, although not Jake or probably Muller. His team will be dangerous I think. I'm still sorting thru the order for my top 5.

BEARZ77 wrote:

Jsnhbe1Birds wrote:

AndShock wrote:This is the spot that whoever gets it will be extremely displeased. I went with SIU.

I think SIU is very underrafed. I actually think southern finishes third. Loyola fourth.

I agree, I think I'll have them in my top 4 ; no offense, but I like their roster better than both UNI and Illinois State and Barry is a more accomplished coach than many, although not Jake or probably Muller. His team will be dangerous I think. I'm still sorting thru the order for my top 5.

I was very impressed by Bol and Lloyd last season. Although I'm pretty sure Lloyd is at least 35. This season you add a 6'10 JUCO transfer. Looking pretty dangerous.

Plus Fletcher, the return of Smithpeters, a quality juco point guard from Panola, and a number of experienced role players. It's a solid roster for Barry.

Southern scares me as a real boom or bust team. I also agree whoever gets 7 is gonna be maaaaaad; and probably better than 7 seeds from the past few years. I went Bradley only because they have the most to prove at this point(for me). I know Valpo lost Peters but word from fans is they got a lot of talent coming off redshirt seasons, Really a toss up tho. Tough call.

Valpo is picked 3rd or 4th by the pre-season magazines, not 7th. We have a lot of question marks due to all the new guys but, we do have Tevonn Walker, picked by said magazines as a first team all conference player and gain two guys who had to sit last year due to transfers from Power 5 schools. First is Joe Burton, ranked 59th by ESPN in his class, from Oklahoma State. He had offers from Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon and others. The next is Bakari Evelyn from Nebraska. All I know about him is that our starting point guard from last year, Lexus Williams, decided to play his final year at Boise State. Handwriting on the wall? We'll see. Finally, our two seven footers are no longer freshman. I think by the end of the year no one will want to play Valpo.

Valparaiso is actually my pick to win the MVC this year.

I watched a lot of MVC games last year and the only two teams in our conference that were any good were Wichita State and Illinois State (and ILST was only capable of playing good in 1 half). Everyone else was awful, so I'm not really sure why some of you think that Valpo is going to finish 7th. This isn't like Loyola where they had won 1 game in conference play the previous season. Valparaiso is actually a compete right away add, which is why we went after them. At the very least I'm expecting top 3 from the Crusaders.