I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who does not expect this to be a very long season for BG's men's basketball team. Something different can always happen and somebody picked low always surprises, but it is hard to see how this year's team is as good as last year's team and maybe by a lot. The top two players are gone and there are no proven replacements for them. And then, there's the whole coaching issue, with Coach Orr on the last year of his deal and widely seen as a lame duck.
There are clearly four very bad teams in the MAC, based on expectations. BG, Miami, CMU and NIU. CMU had to use overtime to beat Lake Superior last night...just as an example.
I will have a basketball preview coming up later this week, including some things to watch for that might make this team better than expected.
Expected. Oh yeah. Well, the MAC pre-season poll came out this morning and BG was picked to finish last in the East, behind even Miami, a team that is in turmoil, lost players from last year as well. Based on votes, the only team with less support is NIU.
So there it is. Here are the full results.
2013-14 East Division Predicted Order of Finish
1. Akron – 143 Votes (18 first place votes)
2. Buffalo – 120 Votes (6 first place votes)
3. Ohio – 94 Votes
4. Kent State – 91 Votes (1 first place vote)
5. Miami – 42 Votes
6. Bowling Green – 35 Votes
2013-14 East Division Preseason All-MAC Team
Javon McCrea, Buffalo
Demetrius Treadwell, Akron
Will Felder, Miami
Will Regan, Buffalo
Quincy Diggs, Akron
2013-14 West Division Predicted Order of Finish
1. Toledo – 149 Votes (24 first place votes)
2. Western Michigan – 108 Votes
3. Eastern Michigan – 101 Votes (1 first place vote)
4. Ball State – 89 Votes
5. Central Michigan – 50 Votes
6. Northern Illinois – 28 Votes
2013-14 West Division Preseason All-MAC Team
Rian Pearson, Toledo
Julius Brown Toledo
Shayne Whittington Western Michigan
Majok Majok Ball State
Glenn Bryant, Eastern Michigan
No comments:
Post a Comment