by Aargh » September 29th, 2014, 11:01 pm
I don't think Creighton would have added much excitement - or even interest - this year. With the young McDermott gone and the old McDermott still there... Throw in the graduation of Gibbs and Wragge, and CU looks like (at best) a mid-pack Valley team this year.
The off-topic portion of this thread has focused on WSU. WSU was a #1 seed in the NCAA's last year. Anybody remember the last #1 seed in the tourney from the Valley? Try Larry Bird. Prior to that it was when most of the current Valley was still D2.
From that #1 seed WSU is returning a part-time frontcourt starter, Carter, who averaged 7.9 points and 4.5 boards. Carter was the #5 scorer on the team.
After that WSU returns the MVC DPoY in Cotton. The Shox return a Jr. PG (VanVleet) who looks like a consensus pre-season 1st team AA. The Shox return Baker, who is getting a lot of pre-season hype as about a 3rd team AA and is being projected as a likely 1st round NBA pick after his Jr year.
When an MVC team returns 4 starters from an NCAA #1 seed, including the MVC DPoY, two AA candidates, an early entry first round draft pick...fans of that team are going to expect to do well in the Valley.