The Valley some say regressed this year--I disagree---We now have THREE decent teams instead of just ONE good one. Aces Panthers and Shockers NOW lead our League with Birds and Sals not far behind. The rest except for Ramblers and Bears improved. Until we at LUC get a balanced team or at least SOME improvement down low, we will stay where we are, winning a few big ones (Panthers twice) but losing to most when we should win.

So--Bottom line is the Valley is getting back to where they were. More improvement on the way !! BUT Three good teams are far better than ONE really good one.

Bradley is going to be good. They were the youngest team in NCAA this year I believe and we had to go 100% to beat them at AM....The Valley was young except for Evansville and WS who will be losing their top players. It will be interesting to see how LU fares. Too early to go with a starting lineup for next year until all signees are in. Guess we could say that Donte and Ben will be starters and then??????? Tyson SMiths injury was a blow....even if he is eligible to play remember how long it took Jeff White to recover fully?

Brot-- We had two great teams last year, when both WSU and UNI were in the Top 25 at the end of the year. Both would have been solidly in the tournament with an at large. On top of that, ISUr was in the NIT, Evansville won the CIT, and Loyola won the CBI. Moreover, the Valley was ranked as the 9th best conference in RPI last year, but 13th this year.

This was a very odd year for the so-called mid majors. Gonzaga may not make the tournament if they don't win the West Coast tournament. They have an RPI of 65, and their best win out of conference was against UConn, who might miss the tournament as well (RPI 55). Many of the stronger mid-major conferences have only one team likely to get an at large. The Horizon is ranked #20, behind the Southern Conference, Big West, and many other former low majors. The Summit League is actually ranked a notch above the Valley, thanks to their bottom teams having much better seasons than previously thought.

As for the future of our league, there are probably more question marks for next year than any time since the late aughts, when there was a rash of coaching changes (Altman leaving Creighton, Cuonzo Martin at Missouri State, Marshall rebuilding WSU, etc.). Northern Iowa and Evansville will be totally rebuilding. Loyola will have to find a way to make up for huge losses on perimeter (Turk) and inside (James), and will find out how good Custer is or whether Doyle can return to performing at his true position. WSU will be without the trio of Baker, Van Vleet and Wessel-- did their bench guys get enough experience to step in and keep them on top? Drake and Bradley's young players looked like they were finally starting to put things together near the end of this season, and have a full off-season to work on finer points. Missouri State will be healthy next year, and I think Obediah Church has potential to be another Seth Tuttle in this league. Indiana State has some highly thought of talent coming in. Illinois State will still be an extremely athletic team, but their Arch Madness performance was yet another disappointment showing their strategy and basketball IQ is lacking.

Well said JCT But last year WAS last year--eg we were good then--a mystery this year. I must say that the top teams this year will be losing some real talent--BUT the bottom TWO will be better. It looks early that this will be a heck of a balanced League in 16/17. It might all be gauged on who does what PRE - LEAGUE.
That is where Coaching comes in--Time will tell if PM has it or not ! After last year I truly thought he had turned the corner BUT he reverted to his old conservative ways (Good in Politics not so in Hoops--Joke John !!!) . He woke up half way through the season, but reverted at the end. Sad to say, but he seems to be afraid of losing rather than going all out.= as he did when he played second five to begin games--A master stroke but.....

It promises to be a fun race --wide open next year , so far !!!