Early 2013-14 Rankings

[jon]

Hey all,

If you are interested, thought it would be fun to take a very early look at rankings for next year! Obviously these will change, especially since teams are still signing players, etc. But could be a fun discussion starter!

http://www.bigskybball.com/2013/05/early-2013-14-big-sky-rankings.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Let me know what you think!

 

[oldrunner]

For WSU, you missed Wayne Bradford's departure and Josh Fuller's coming in off of his mission after red shirting one year at Utah. He is a 6'7' power forward who can shoot from range and handle the ball. In high school he played all 5 positions. He is going to play some.

 

[SWeberCat02]

Agree with your top three, with UND possibly second over UM. After that, who knows, except that SUU will be last.

 

[jon]

For WSU, you missed Wayne Bradford's departure and Josh Fuller's coming in off of his mission after red shirting one year at Utah. He is a 6'7' power forward who can shoot from range and handle the ball. In high school he played all 5 positions. He is going to play some.

Thank you sir, made those changes. I know of Fuller but don't know much about his game... do you think he will have much of an impact with Bolomboy/Tresnak/Hajek/Hill/Fulton in the frontcourt? You guys have so much depth.

 

[oldrunner]

It is always hard to tell how long it will take a player to round back into shape after a mission. However, fuller is back and working out now. He will be with the team on and off throughout the summer. He has already used his red shirt year, while at Utah, so he will play. He will chalenge for back up minutes behind Bolomboy. We may not know what his impact will be until January. We are 3 or 4 deap at that position.

 

[Webergrad02]

Jon,
I always appreciate your insight. I agree with most of your predictions. However, I think you have Northern Colorado listed too high at 4. I think that program is a dumpster fire under BJ Hill. I just don't see how they are better than last year with all of their losses. I think Northern Arizona will be much better than you have them listed.

 

[oldrunner]

Here is how I see it.

Teams on the rise:
WSU
UND
NAU
ISU

Same old, same old:
UCSac
EWU

Sliding a bit:
UM
MSU
UNC

Heading to the dumpster:
SUU
PSU

 

[weberwildcat]

this is hilarious! its may 2nd!

top 3:
UM
UND
WSU

middle of pack:
EWU
MSU
NAU
UNC

excluded:
ISU
PSU
Sac
SUU

suu sure lost a lot. i agree ISU to be improving, they have a lot of change right now. Sac just hard to ever pic them in and most of us thought they were a lock in 2013. psu not looking good.

top 3 for me have to be weber, griz and no names. und has an mvp candidate. weber n griz still have lots of talent and should be top 2. griz bring back the big sky mvp and i see weber with 2 potential candidates in trez & berry. imagine how good these 2 will be if they play better than 2013

 

[hawkssb04]

Very good early prognostication for next season. ;-)
That being said, until Weber finally beats Montana, I wouldn't be able to put them at No. 1. ... Even if they are the deepest and most talented squad coming back.

 

[oldrunner]

I do not believe there will be any one loss teams in the league next year. I think that the league, as a whole, will be much improved. If you had to pick on talent alone, WSU wins it. However, that has been true the past two years and we didn't win it. Obviously, talent can take you a long ways, but it takes a little bit more to get over the hump. Montana has had that 'little bit more' for the last few years. Do they have that with this year's group of players? That remains to be seen. To me, it's in the hands of the coach on the floor. Usually that is the point guard, but it doesn't have to be. Coaches can do a lot to groom that element on their teams. They can also do a lot to undermine it. I believe that some coaches cut their own throat, when it comes to leadership and motivation. :twocents:

 

[Webergrad02]

I think Weber has a decent shot of running the table next year. We have so much depth inside, it is really going to help us in a conference not known for having a lot of bigs.

 

[weberwildcat]

I do not believe there will be any one loss teams in the league next year. I think that the league, as a whole, will be much improved. If you had to pick on talent alone, WSU wins it. However, that has been true the past two years and we didn't win it. Obviously, talent can take you a long ways, but it takes a little bit more to get over the hump. Montana has had that 'little bit more' for the last few years. Do they have that with this year's group of players? That remains to be seen. To me, it's in the hands of the coach on the floor. Usually that is the point guard, but it doesn't have to be. Coaches can do a lot to groom that element on their teams. They can also do a lot to undermine it. I believe that some coaches cut their own throat, when it comes to leadership and motivation. :twocents:

ya i don't there will be a one loss champ either.

27 out of the past 50 seasons the reg season champ had at least 3 losses.
8 champs have had at least 4 losses
3 champs even had 5 losses

griz 4
weber 4
weber 4
weber 4
weber 4
weber 5
weber 5
nau 5

if you can win 80% of your home games and split on the road you on average should finish top 3. with 20 games thats 13-7. this pretty much was my hopes for our teams during the cravens era and rahe prior to lillard. now rahe makes it look easy to win more than 80% at home and better than 50% on the road. he has never lost 2 big sky reg season home games in his career.

Big Sky Record 100-30
Big Sky Reg Home Record 55-4 (1 home loss in past 5 seasons)
Big Sky Reg Road Record 37-19

 

[oldrunner]

It's been a two horse race for the past several years. I am really hoping that the league rises up to make it a three, four, or even five horse race in the near future. The BSC needs to start winning a higher percentage of OC games and getting more teams to 20+ wins. It all starts with the school's and the community's commitment. That means $ and facilities. You simply can not expect first rate performance with third and fourth rate backing. The BSC should be putting huge pressure on its member to rise up to the challenge, take the next step, and get better. I know that it is hard. We've been through it, and are going through it, at Weber State. You just have to keep banging at that brick wall until you get through it. However, you have to start. If you just sit back and say it can't be done, it's too hard, you will never get it done.

Come on BSC, tell your members to get off their A$$s.

 

[n.ogdencat]

Jon,

Nice job. Your blog looks great. I'm really wondering how UM will be as good next year as they were this year. The Big Sky was bad last year. Part of the reason why, after losing two starters, the UM could still be successful. However, without any help inside and knowing that the Sky has a lot of teams deeper and more athletic should scare the Grizz. Play a zone against them and they are toast. Which is what I was yelling the entire second half in Missoula.

I think UND and EWU will be the next best teams and I feel that MSU, if they can over come their divisions and February meltdown could be dangerous. UNCO should be better...but for some reason they don't seem like they are getting better, and to me they are losing proven players for players that haven't proven anything yet (which is the norm across the board, one thing that makes college basketball so fun and interesting), and weren't top recruits in the Fall. Yes, Barden is solid, but he never made much noise against the top teams in the conference. Just the teams at the bottom, that didn't have good bigs.

 

[weberwildcat]

i just remembered that as good as suu was this past season they did lose 9 of their final 10 games of the year and now they lose their best players. they could be really bad. but they have a 2nd yr coach and should be reloaded. will be interesting to see if they can have another good year.

suu and und did way better than i expected for year 1. i assumed suu would be another bottom dweller. right now its hard to not pick them last.