1 UTEP
2 LA Tech 3 CHARLOTTE
4 Old Dominion
5 Western Kentucky
6 Middle Tennessee
7 UAB
8 Southern Miss
9 North Texas
10 Marshall
11 FAU
12 FIU
13 UT San Antonio
14 Rice
1 UTEP
2 LA Tech 3 CHARLOTTE
4 Old Dominion
5 Western Kentucky
6 Middle Tennessee
7 UAB
8 Southern Miss
9 North Texas
10 Marshall
11 FAU
12 FIU
13 UT San Antonio
14 Rice
If we finish this high (or higher ;D ), I see a trip to Birmingham in my future in March. Good Sun Belt and C-USA 1.0 memories there. If we don’t, I see a real need for some changes. :-\
[b]Conference USA:[/b] CUSA has more high school talent than the other conferences in this preview, but they lack a clear at-large caliber team at the top, largely because many of the top teams have suffered devastating talent defections this off-season. Southern Miss, UAB, and Middle Tennessee are basically starting over, and while they have some transfers to help with that process, they will have a hard time finishing in the Top 4 in CUSA.
Louisiana Tech loses a ton of talent to graduation, but the return of Raheem Appleby, who missed much of last year due to injury, might make them the favorite. UTEP should also be in the conversation for the league title. Few teams could lose a post player that rebounds and scores as effectively as John Bohannon and not suffer because of it, but UTEP had incredible post depth with Matt Wilms, Cedrick Lang, and Vince Hunter last year. They shouldn’t miss a beat.
Old Dominion might be my biggest sleeper team nationally. I know Dimitri Batten left for Boston College, but he shot too much, and his efficiency was below that of most of his teammates. ODU returns six effective players, Aaron Bacote, Keenan Palmore, Richard Ross, Denzell Taylor, Ambrose Mosley, and Jordan Baker, the last three of whom should benefit from the sophomore leap. Deion Clark should be back after suffering a knee injury last summer. But the reason I have ODU jumping up so much nationally is that they add two high impact transfers. Trey Freeman was a very efficient PG who played major minutes and scored major points for Campbell two years ago. And George Mason’s Jonathan Arledge was a dominant big man. Arledge was aggressive, efficient, great on the boards, and an occasional shot-blocker for George Mason. Those two players will upgrade ODU substantially.
I’m also very high on Western Kentucky. They only have 60% of their minutes back which doesn’t sound that high, but that is deceiving. Aleksej Rostov and Kevin Kaspar played limited minutes last year due to injury. And Chris Harrison-Docks and Trency Jackson didn’t debut until December. The loss of senior starter Caden Dickerson is also highly over-rated as Dickerson used only 11% of his team’s possessions when on the floor. WKU is really a veteran team with most of its points’ producers returning.
The one team I’m not as high on as some other prognosticators is Charlotte. The 49ers add two 4-star transfers in Clemson’s Bernard Sullivan and Florida’s Braxton Ogbueze. You might think I’m not excited because those two players didn’t perform well with their last teams. But with talented athletes, sometimes they just weren’t a good fit with the previous team. The real issue is that my model doesn’t believe in head coach Alan Major at this point. I know that the Charlotte roster was not in great shape when he took over, but Charlotte was not one of the dregs of D1 either. They have had plenty of 3 star recruits and transfers to work with the last four years. And yet in four seasons, Major has never produced an offense better than 190th in the country. With the resources at his disposal at Charlotte that’s under-achieving. Major is firmly on the hot-seat this season.
[b]Conference USA:[/b] CUSA has more high school talent than the other conferences in this preview, but they lack a clear at-large caliber team at the top, largely because many of the top teams have suffered devastating talent defections this off-season. Southern Miss, UAB, and Middle Tennessee are basically starting over, and while they have some transfers to help with that process, they will have a hard time finishing in the Top 4 in CUSA.
Louisiana Tech loses a ton of talent to graduation, but the return of Raheem Appleby, who missed much of last year due to injury, might make them the favorite. UTEP should also be in the conversation for the league title. Few teams could lose a post player that rebounds and scores as effectively as John Bohannon and not suffer because of it, but UTEP had incredible post depth with Matt Wilms, Cedrick Lang, and Vince Hunter last year. They shouldn’t miss a beat.
Old Dominion might be my biggest sleeper team nationally. I know Dimitri Batten left for Boston College, but he shot too much, and his efficiency was below that of most of his teammates. ODU returns six effective players, Aaron Bacote, Keenan Palmore, Richard Ross, Denzell Taylor, Ambrose Mosley, and Jordan Baker, the last three of whom should benefit from the sophomore leap. Deion Clark should be back after suffering a knee injury last summer. But the reason I have ODU jumping up so much nationally is that they add two high impact transfers. Trey Freeman was a very efficient PG who played major minutes and scored major points for Campbell two years ago. And George Mason’s Jonathan Arledge was a dominant big man. Arledge was aggressive, efficient, great on the boards, and an occasional shot-blocker for George Mason. Those two players will upgrade ODU substantially.
I’m also very high on Western Kentucky. They only have 60% of their minutes back which doesn’t sound that high, but that is deceiving. Aleksej Rostov and Kevin Kaspar played limited minutes last year due to injury. And Chris Harrison-Docks and Trency Jackson didn’t debut until December. The loss of senior starter Caden Dickerson is also highly over-rated as Dickerson used only 11% of his team’s possessions when on the floor. WKU is really a veteran team with most of its points’ producers returning.
The one team I’m not as high on as some other prognosticators is Charlotte. The 49ers add two 4-star transfers in Clemson’s Bernard Sullivan and Florida’s Braxton Ogbueze. You might think I’m not excited because those two players didn’t perform well with their last teams. But with talented athletes, sometimes they just weren’t a good fit with the previous team. The real issue is that my model doesn’t believe in head coach Alan Major at this point. I know that the Charlotte roster was not in great shape when he took over, but Charlotte was not one of the dregs of D1 either. They have had plenty of 3 star recruits and transfers to work with the last four years. And yet in four seasons, Major has never produced an offense better than 190th in the country. With the resources at his disposal at Charlotte that’s under-achieving. Major is firmly on the hot-seat this season.
[quote=“Niner National, post:7, topic:29061”]He’s right, but he’s wrong. I don’t think Major is on the hot seat at all.[/quote] I think he is, actually. Most athletic departments publicly back their coaches right up to the day they fire them.
A lynch mob came after him at Dave and Busters last March. You think the athletics department is going to do that again?
If you want this program relevant again (which is the collective goal no?) your biggest fear should be Dunce Major winning 19 games & 3-5 place in cusa and just enough to be retained. And its #nextyear again.
Of 349 d1 schools…348 of them have numerous preseason videos with interviews etc hyping/selling the upcoming season. 1 is painfully absent of any of that (uncc). Its pretty blatant Alan Major is being kept on digital sidelines by design.
Of 349 d1 schools…348 of them have numerous preseason videos with interviews etc hyping/selling the upcoming season. 1 is painfully absent of any of that (uncc). Its pretty blatant Alan Major is being kept on digital sidelines by design.[/quote]
Of 349 d1 schools…348 of them have numerous preseason videos with interviews etc hyping/selling the upcoming season. 1 is painfully absent of any of that (uncc). Its pretty blatant Alan Major is being kept on digital sidelines by design.[/quote]
Can you link all 348 for me?[/quote]
Pick one Huckleberry and go see
Of 349 d1 schools…348 of them have numerous preseason videos with interviews etc hyping/selling the upcoming season. 1 is painfully absent of any of that (uncc). Its pretty blatant Alan Major is being kept on digital sidelines by design.[/quote]
Can you link all 348 for me?[/quote]
Pick one Huckleberry and go see[/quote]
[quote=“Niner National, post:7, topic:29061”]He’s right, but he’s wrong. I don’t think Major is on the hot seat at all.[/quote]Silliness about video presentations aside, you really don’t think he’s on the hot seat at all? I could see saying he’s not necessarily NCAA or bust (though that’s the way it should be by now), but I think a repeat of last year or worse he is extremely likely to be let go. A slightly better season may not be enough. And any issues with further transfers of contributors might also be enough, unless it’s coupled with a high level of success. I think Major probably lost a little leeway with the collapse last season.
I hope the team makes this moot with an NCAA run. I’m ready for a surprisingly good season, as opposed to the surprisingly bad season that’s become really common.
[quote=“9erken, post:19, topic:29061”][quote=“Niner National, post:7, topic:29061”]He’s right, but he’s wrong. I don’t think Major is on the hot seat at all.[/quote]Silliness about video presentations aside, you really don’t think he’s on the hot seat at all? I could see saying he’s not necessarily NCAA or bust (though that’s the way it should be by now), but I think a repeat of last year or worse he is extremely likely to be let go. A slightly better season may not be enough. And any issues with further transfers of contributors might also be enough, unless it’s coupled with a high level of success. I think Major probably lost a little leeway with the collapse last season.
I hope the team makes this moot with an NCAA run. I’m ready for a surprisingly good season, as opposed to the surprisingly bad season that’s become really common.[/quote]With fans? Absolutely.
With Judy? No, I really don’t think he is unless he has a losing record this year. If we have a losing record due to injuries, I think excuses will be made and his seat will be as comfortable as a heated car seat on a cold winter morning.
