Summit Preseason Picks

[Rabbit74]

I picked up a copy of the Athlon Basketball magazine this afternoon. In the Summit, it picks Oakland to win and the the Jacks to finish fourth. They have the bison down to number 7.

Garret Callahan is picked for the first team.

The complete run down for the teams is as follows.

Oakland
Oral Roberts
IUPUI
SDSU
Southern Utah
IPFW
NDSU
Western Illinois
UMKC
Centenary

[Cowbell]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

That won't make the NDSU people happy. But, it's fair considering who they have lost.

[tjbison]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

That won't make the NDSU people happy. But, it's fair considering who they have lost.

I'm all for it, make them earn it if they are that good, I do see higher than 4th if they come together as a team, but 4 new guys starting may take awhile to jive, good thing about bball is the tourney!!

but you are right the "fanatics" will be upset

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

You know what, I was pretty surprised how accurate this was. I was expecting a national magazine like Athlon to totally botch this, but it's a good list. Our friends up north will for sure be upset about the 7th place prediction, but....

You can't even argue 1 and 2....

IUPUI is a very safe 3rd pick....

SDSU we all know about and I believe 4th is another pretty safe pick....

IPFW is in the same boat as us and should be another improved squad and 5th is very reasonable.....

SUU should be decent at worst, 6th is, by far, not out of the question....

The Bison have to realize the above, Ou and ORU will be top 2 and the others are good teams who should ALL be improved. Is NDSU improved? No way. In fact, they have alot TO prove. They could jump a few spots higher if everything is great but, for right now, for the proven players they have returning, 7th is pretty fair.

WIU, thanks to Centenary and UMKC, not to mention the above teams who are clearly better, is a solid 8th.

UMKC and Centenary are easily the bottom two....easily.

Pretty good job by Athlon.

[FargoBison]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

I think SUU should be behind the Bison, they did lose....

Transfered/Quit?
Cory Davis, 5-11, G, Jr.
Mike Josserand, 6-0, G, Soph
Jon Henderson, 6-2, G, Fr
Lucas Jones, 6-9, PF, Jr
Jaren jeffery, 6-9, C, Fr.

Jake Nielsen, 6-3, SG, Fr. is listed on the current roster but Fox Sports claims that he transferred.

Graduated
Dave Marek
John Clifford
Tyler Quinney

Just take a look at their current roster...

http://www.suutbirds.com/SportSelect...&Q_SEASON=2009

They return two starters and I had no idea a roster could have so much turnover. Makes me wonder what happened?

NDSU will at least have 6 players that have been at NDSU for a couple of years. Say what you want about what we lost but I think our problems are tiny compared to whatever happened in Cedar City.


Here are my very preliminary rankings...

1.Oakland
.
.
.
2.SDSU
3.IUPUI
4.ORU
5.NDSU
6.IPFW
.
.
.
7.WIU
8.SUU
.
.
.
.
.
9.UMKC
.
.
10 Centenary

[zooropa]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

I think you might have ORU a bit low---they don't graduate players so much as they reload. Sutton's a pretty good coach--arguably the best in the conference.

Other than that, I agree--SUU has had some issues.

[FargoBison]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

I think you might have ORU a bit low---they don't graduate players so much as they reload. Sutton's a pretty good coach--arguably the best in the conference.

Other than that, I agree--SUU has had some issues.

Well, I will say I don't think there is much if anything separating ORU from any team I ranked above them not named Oakland. I do think Sutton is going to have his hands full, he lost a considerable chunk of points off of a team that had trouble offensively at times last year. I do like Morrison a lot, he has the potential to be a top player in the Summit, but their team is in desperate need of a viable point guard and a few other players stepping up to help Morrison out.

I think in some ways ORU and NDSU are in a similar situation, the difference being NDSU has a young coach in Saul Phillips and ORU has the proven Scott Sutton, both have young dynamic players in Tveidt and Morrison that I think you could build a team around.

[jacks1]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

I think SUU should be behind the Bison, they did lose....

Transfered/Quit?
Cory Davis, 5-11, G, Jr.
Mike Josserand, 6-0, G, Soph
Jon Henderson, 6-2, G, Fr
Lucas Jones, 6-9, PF, Jr
Jaren jeffery, 6-9, C, Fr.

Jake Nielsen, 6-3, SG, Fr. is listed on the current roster but Fox Sports claims that he transferred.

Graduated
Dave Marek
John Clifford
Tyler Quinney

Just take a look at their current roster...

http://www.suutbirds.com/SportSelect...&Q_SEASON=2009

They return two starters and I had no idea a roster could have so much turnover. Makes me wonder what happened?

NDSU will at least have 6 players that have been at NDSU for a couple of years. Say what you want about what we lost but I think our problems are tiny compared to whatever happened in Cedar City.


Here are my very preliminary rankings...

1.Oakland
.
.
.
2.SDSU
3.IUPUI
4.ORU
5.NDSU
6.IPFW
.
.
.
7.WIU
8.SUU
.
.
.
.
.
9.UMKC
.
.
10 Centenary

I don't see SDSU as a 2nd place team (yet!)...I think Oakland, ORU and IUPUI finish ahead of the Jacks, but I hope you're right!

[rabidrabbit]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

I like the separation of groups here. Oakland will be extremely talented this year. Hope the can really knock off some big dogs OOC. Group 2-6, any of those could emerge as a 2 or a 6, depends on how each gels as a team, and breaks during games. Agree that WIU/SUU will be battling to avoid Oakland in the 1st round. UMKC will join Centenary in missing the tourney.

I think SUU should be behind the Bison, they did lose....

Transfered/Quit?
Cory Davis, 5-11, G, Jr.
Mike Josserand, 6-0, G, Soph
Jon Henderson, 6-2, G, Fr
Lucas Jones, 6-9, PF, Jr
Jaren jeffery, 6-9, C, Fr.

Jake Nielsen, 6-3, SG, Fr. is listed on the current roster but Fox Sports claims that he transferred.

Graduated
Dave Marek
John Clifford
Tyler Quinney

Just take a look at their current roster...

http://www.suutbirds.com/SportSelect...&Q_SEASON=2009

They return two starters and I had no idea a roster could have so much turnover. Makes me wonder what happened?

NDSU will at least have 6 players that have been at NDSU for a couple of years. Say what you want about what we lost but I think our problems are tiny compared to whatever happened in Cedar City.


Here are my very preliminary rankings...

1.Oakland
.
.
.
2.SDSU
3.IUPUI
4.ORU
5.NDSU
6.IPFW
.
.
.
7.WIU
8.SUU
.
.
.
.
.
9.UMKC
.
.
10 Centenary

[zooropa]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

Well, I will say I don't think there is much if anything separating ORU from any team I ranked above them not named Oakland.

Agree, but Sutton knows the conference better than anyone except Kampe--if you put ORU, IUPUI & SDSU in a toss-up talent-wise, I say advantage Sutton----but that's just my opinion.

Sutton's put ORU in the top three every year since 2001, IIRC. Hard to bet against that.

[NoVaJack]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

The one thing about prognostication is that the "wait until next year" syndrome usually makes postscripts moot. Rarely are these guys called on them. Someday, someone should do a study on the accuracy of pre-season picks. (Including what Sports Illustrated's Dr. Z was smoking when he predicted that the Bears will lose to the Patriots by three in the next Super Bowl). Bet they're about as accurate as darts in the dark.
Arizona Cardinals? Tampa Bay Rays, anyone?

The only prediction here is the Jacks will be better and that there will be a good and spirited debate about how much better on this forum during the season.

[Kemo]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

Rarely are these guys called on them. Someday, someone should do a study on the accuracy of pre-season picks. (Including what Sports Illustrated's Dr. Z was smoking when he predicted that the Bears will lose to the Patriots by three in the next Super Bowl).

I don't know, give Dr. Z credit for picking the correct teams that will be in this years Super Bowl... too bad he chose the wrong winner

[1stRowFANatic]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

Peter King did this years picks for SI. Paul Zimmerman had a stroke last year (and apparently several more since) and is likely will not publish another article. I miss his writing.

[Golden Eagle]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

Hard to figure placing IUPUI above SDSU.

I understand Hunter is a respected coach but SDSU will have a core of players that have been playing together for quite awhile. I believe IUPUI loses PG Gary Patterson who was a significant contributor.

Is there a single Summit team that can win two games against Oakland? I doubt it. I think Kampe & Co. sweep quite a few teams this year.

[NoVaJack]

Re: Summit Preseason Picks

I don't know, give Dr. Z credit for picking the correct teams that will be in this years Super Bowl... too bad he chose the wrong winner

Kemo: Gotta give it up to your optimism. But then again, everyone's an optimist this time of the year. Every team is still undefefated.