Hello, hopefully some people have seen what i have been doing for other worlds and the wrap up for last season.

For my season Preview Ill predict my final four teams and why I think so with a generally minor conern.  Then maybe list a few teams I think are E8,  while also making a quick guess for the NT, maybe do a small blurb on what I hope to accomplish personally.  Periodically I will post hoping to get discussions based in what happens during the season.  My next big post will be my midseason report which i will type after non conf.  Also i type on my tablet for the majority so spelling may randomly go bad if i dont notice autocorrect being stupid.

Final Four(no order)

CSU San Bernardino (apk4senate) WIS #2
25-8 (11-5) 16 RPI 23 SOS Elite 8

CSU will be a scary team to play this season, 5 seniors and 1 RS Jr. lead this team boasting 68 team ath and 69 def.  Ath, spd and def are everywhere, running a press means havoc will ensue on defense, teams will turn the ball over and struggle.  Offensively Lankford looks to be their best offensive threat with 80+ speed 90+ per and 70+ bh.  CSU boasts a tough non conf schedule and is in the 2nd best cond in Tark meaning they should benefit from a top SOS come seeding time.  For any concerns, the press with no 90+ spd guards could mean a team with 90+ spd guards could come and get one of those outlier games that causes a lot of fouls, either that or no big offensive studs besides Lankford

PR:   22-4 (13-3) Final Four


Limestone (xlixer) WIS UR
33-2 (15-1) 8 RPI 44 SOS Conf Champ, CT Champ NT Final Four

Xlixer returns a talented team that he brought to the final foir last season and looks to return as well as advance this time and certainly has a team capable.  10 upperclassmen give this team plenty of depth and IQ.  Limeston boasts multiple elite ath/spd guards that will a force in the flex.  Speaking of offense Limeston has 2 80+ per players with good cores and 3 75+ LP players meaning they have the fire power to win games should their defense not be enough which it rarely should not.  With a tough non conf they should have built their SOS up enough to withstand a relatively weak conf.  You have to be pretty picky to find something wrong, and honestly cant write anything without sounding like im looking under a really tiny microscope.

PR: 24-2 (16-0) Final Four

SIU, Edwardsville (cjwolf) WIS UR
21-9 (10-6) 21 RPI 25 SOS NT 2nd Round

cjwolf's team boasts the highest team ath and has some crazy high ath guards few not dropping off in spd either look at Bunton that level of ath/spd as well as 60+ LP looks like CJ has found a Dwayne Wade clone.  Offensively this team is a little light on per but has the ath/spd and LP players to make sure scoring isnt a problem as well as a top shelf defense led by   Gordon who looks ready to grab any rebound his way and block a high amount of shots.  SIU has multiple 1st team caliber players on the roster, a final four should be a good goal and highly attainable for an elite coach.  However there is a pretty noticeable sacrifice of bh/pass to achieve the high ath/spd/def this team boasts.  Teams only a tad behind CJ's elite ath/spd running press could cause problems.

PR: 24-2 (14-2) Final Four

SE Oklahoma St  (jtt8355) WIS #10
30-4 (15-1) 10 RPI 30 SOS Final Four

Another coach looking to return and build upon last seasons final four SE Oklahoma St, returns many players from last seasons run and look capable to make another this season as well.  Czyzewski should be a 1st team AA with elite ath/reb great LP as well as great bh/pas for a big man.  Multiple guards look elite too, 
Thomas should be one of the best distributers  this season.  Looks like a very capable offense and defense should be good enough to get them through the NT, however it should be noted they are a bit weak defensively compared to some other elite teams.

PR: 25-1 (15-1) Final Four

Making a choice for NC game Id say Limestone over SIU Edwardsville.  Giving xlixer his first national championship in his career.

E8 exits
SW Baptist (if jones was to give attention to this season he looks ready for a serious championship run)
Washington Adventist(super class doesnt make up for the slight ath disadvantage)
CSU Dominquez Hills great team but will be disadvantaged against the super classes and superior IQ
West Chester PA(one rebounder won't be enough against some great rebounding teams)

Top Conf: GLV

Personally with my Wheeling Jesuit team I'd like to get to the 2nd round and 20+ wins which i think is a good possibility.  For my Midwestern St team i fully expect a 0-27 so any win is awesome and I just would like to see some great development from my starting freshmen.
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Hopefully this was enjoyable, please comment with your opinions either to discuss or add our own two cents, and again if there is anything i can do better or you would like to see say so.

YAY Limestone!


That would be awesome if it could happen, theonlyis.  I'm thinking of moving to D1 after this season and it would really be great if I could get my first  trophy on the way out.  (and maybe it wouldn't be my first?  My PalmBeach team thinks they have a shot to get me my first in six days)
I'm not sure I would call us the pre-season favorites, but I do think we are pretty good.  
Can you explain how we are not ranked in the top 25?

Thank you for doing this.  Very cool.

very nice work only!

It's a shame you decided to start this when we have one our worst teams I've ever put together while at UWP! I like reading things like this, it makes the season more exciting. Keep it up!

We will be there soon!

Tarelton St. will not be there soon! I'm looking forward to this challenge and can't wait to see what I can do at this level but it's going to take a while. The Texans return a group of seniors that maybe has sweet 16 potential. Recruiting wasn't anything special as I had only 1 open schollie...ended up taking 2. It was strictly a class structuring thing and neither will play a big role(I hope not) going forward. The coach that was here before me recruited a big soph class so total reconstruction won't take place for another 3 seasons. GL to all!

I know I greatly lacking in ATH and Def. that being said I'm finally taking time and investing in this game. I've never really taken it seriously. Can any of you good coaches take a look at my Met St squad and offer reccomendations? I don't want to waste an opportunity to upgrade my B+ rating. All thoughts appreciated!!

Good luck to all.

Loved reading this gives me a little extra motivation to get montevallo up on top. Good luck everyone.

Worried about my JUCOs IQs, but should be all set for the tourney. GLV play is always fun.

What we learned about my Final Four Picks:

Limestone 10-0 | RPI 1 | SOS 1 | WIS #1:
Is really fricking good.  If you couldn't tell by the player ratings, look at the stats 20 point margin of victory WHILE playing the nations hardest schedule this is the rpi of teams Limestone has played: 3, 6, 9, 14, 15, 23, 28, 29, 58, 99! Only 1 game has been decided by 10 points or less, and another was finished in an OT period where Limestone outscored the opp 21-9 for a double digit point victory.  That's pretty incredible.  Now look at the RPI .7939 and SOS is .7258 again insanely high.  Conf play brings a huge drop however with only 1 top 50 opponent and 4 51-100 opponents.  Limestone is the team to beat.

Previous Prediction 24-2 (16-0) I thought with such a tough schedule they might drop 2 due to a funky sim, however that didn't happen and I fully believe in my undefeated conf prediction.

New Prediction 26-0 (16-0)  Look like a strong candidate for 35-0 right now.

CSU, San Bernardino 10-0 | RPI 18 | SOS 115 | WIS #2
Hasn't been tested enough to confirm what I believe to be a super talented team.  However that time will come during conf play which the Cal CAA is 2nd in RPI.  CSU SB holds their best win in a 12 point victory over previously WIS #10 St. Pauls' (21 RPI | 82 SOS).  CSU has only one game in which they didn't win by double digits a 8 point overtime win over WIS #17 New Mexico Highlands where CSU SB was dominated on the boards.  Still a very positive outlook and I stand by my Final Four prediction for this team.

Previous prediction: 22-4(13-3)  Predicted one loss in non-conf which didn't happen, Conf play is looking tough and more losses might just be unavoidable due to the strength of schedule.

New Prediction 22-4 (12-4) Final Four

SIU, Edwardsville 10-0 | RPI 34 | SOS 165 | WIS #9
Another team in which has a weaker non-conf to get wins before entering the nations toughest conf where it will be a bloodbath.  Non-conf was not expected to tell us much besides they can beat weaker teams.  Their best win is 40th RPI Eckerd a sim coached team.  Only other noticeable result is a 2 point win over 3-7 Columbus St. where SIU shot 47% from the FT line and that will most likely not happen again.

Previous Prediction 24-2 (14-2) Non-conf was expected to be a breeze, and SIU looks strong enough to bash through conf play with only a few losses.

New Prediction 24-2 (14-2) SIU is strong enough on paper to get through the GLV relatively unharmed.  Final Four still looks good.

SE Oklahoma St. 10-0 | RPI 8 | SOS 92 | WIS #5
Again the common theme is weak non-conf to prepare for a tough conf slate, and SE Oklahoma ends undefeated in non-conf, surviving a close game against LIU CW Post (4-6 RPI 19 SOS 5) by 2 points, and beat a great coach in Rogelio's Central Missouri team.  David Thomas is a perfect fit in this triangle offense with such a powerful offensive game both inside and out.  Look to the two future games against Tartleton State (7-3 RPI 4 SOS 3) as being key indicators on the teams true ability.

Previous Prediction 25-1 (15-1) Again no losses were to be expected and that is what we received.

New Prediction 25-1 (15-1) I still believe the only 2 games that will trouble SE Okie St. will be the meetings with Tartleton St. where I think they will split the series. Final Four still looks good.

Teams that look like contenders:

San Francisco St. 10-0 | RPI 5 | SOS 71 | WIS #3
A strong team finished non conf undefeated with wins over the RPI ranked 15th and 16th teams.

CSU Dominguez Hills 9-1 | RPI 2 | SOS 29 | WIS #12
Team containing super high ath big men and great offensive power, only loss is by 3 to the 7th ranked RPI team.

Florida Tech 9-1 | RPI 7 | SOS 44 | WIS #14
Holds a win over the #2 RPI team and it's only loss was the first game of the season to the 14th ranked RPI team.  This elite perimeter shooting looks very strong.


Personally I am a little disappointed in 5-5 with my weakish schedule I was hoping for a few more wins, I didn't believe there was a chance in beating my 2 human opponents, but I would've liked to not accumulate 3 sim losses in non conf.  However I have struggled with a lack of perimeter shooting and FT percentages.  Hopefully some of the changes I made will help out a bit, and I look to get double digit wins in conf play, hopefully enough to make me eligible for the NT, however the PIT is looking more likely.

Hopefully some people have comments or suggestions.  Enjoy

Keep up the good work. Fun to read.

TheOnlyIs,

Thanks for the kind thoughts on my team's prospects. I don't know if they are deserved yet but appreciate the consideration. On the other hand ... now I have more of a target on my back, so thanks for that also :)


Nice to see some Tark chatter/posts. Keep up the good work.

Sorry its so late and right before the NT but I just started watching Mad Men and by started watching I mean I did nothing today and watched the first 9 episodes today.(I just got back from college less than a week ago and haven't heard back from any job applications so I had literally nothing to do, don't judge)

Well lets see now that the NT has arrived lets look at my previous predictions once again before I reveal my bracket:

Limestone pred. 26-0(16-0)

CSU SB pred 22-4(12-4)

SIUE pred 24-2(14-2)

SE Oklahoma St. pred 25-1(15-1)

So I was dead on for Limestone, 1 game off for CSU SB (I had them losing 1 more regular season game), pretty far off for SIUE as I thought they would breeze through the GLV but didn't even achieve a winning record.  And for SE Okie St. I was dead on(I don't predict CT results where they went 2-1)

3 of those teams have F4 capabilities.  Limestone, CSU SB both receiving 1 seeds and SE Okie St. getting a 3 seed.

Now looking at the brackets I'll see who got screwed or lucked out among contenders:

Screwed:
Limestone/SW Baptist, having these 2 teams in the same bracket is tough for both teams, Limestone my favorite to win, and SW Baptist would probably be top 5 conteders, Shame one will be out in the Elite 8.  They did play earlier in the season with Limestone getting a double digit victory, but aejones usually wakes up and gameplans extremely well for the NT.

West Chester PA, they kind of did this to themselves with such an easy schedule they received a 5 seed even with just 1 loss and a super talented team.  They have the pieces to make a run similar to season 99 where they reached the F4 as a 6 seed eliminating the 1,2, and 3 seeded teams.  This also affects Quincy and CSU Stan as they will be playing games of late round caliber early on.

Millersville, granted a super obvious weakness in rebounding is something colonels has managed excellently this season, but 2nd round matchup against either NMHU or Central Mizz are super unfavorable with NMHU top notch rebounding and Central Mizz's ability to matchup athletically and hold an advantage rebounding.

Bottom half of the west bracket:  Florida Tech, SE Oklahoma St, and Lewis are 3 super talented teams, Florida Tech and SE Oklahoma received low seeds for their easy schedules but have top level talent and wins to back it up.  Throw in the fact that you have Lewis facing 1 of 2 upper echelon coaches in the 2nd round in tj or wilco who both are retooling this season after excellent runs last season.

Lucked out:
UMSL to make a deep run like irrev0cable hinted at, they sured received a nice bracket.  Their 4 seed matchup is arguably the least talented of the 4 seeds, and doesn't have any advantages over UMSL, meanwhile a potential meeting with a 1 seed who they have a clear rebounding advantage and a tad bit more speed to matchup pretty well.

Incarnate word, how does a 16 seed get a nice bracket?  By being in the tournament in the first place, new coach ericsmith lit the fire under his teams feet and needing a CT to make the NT did just that!  1st round exit most likely but that's much better than PI or what was a strong chance of no post season.

Speaking of this bracket here it is!

BRACKET

A few thoughts on what I predicted:

I was nervous of the SW Baptist/Limestone matchup I think SW Baptist has the talent and coaching ability to knock off Limestone before they can get farther, however I think Limestone is just too good and will overcome aejone's gameplan.

Like I said earlier Quincy shouldn't be too happy about seeing West Chester so early on, and on cue West Chester makes another deep tourney run.

I talked about UMSL's good fortune in their bracket matchups and the strong coaching or irrev0cable manages to take advantage and knock off 1 seed CSUSB as well as 2 seed Tarleton St. in a "surprise" run to the final four

I have SE Okie State making the championship game from the West even with some tough games, arguable one of the harder paths I think they are elite and will be able to make that deep run, however an early exit would not be completely out of the question.  I think whoever makes it out of that bracket out of those 3 teams makes a run to the title game.

Personally I'm a little disappointed in my Wheeling Jesiut team, the PIT is a consolation, but I thought in my 3rd season of the rebuild I'd make the jump to the NT and be relevant.  Lost some games to some sim teams which is what cost me.  My Midwestern St. team actually won 4 games which I wasn't expecting(2 were battle of the rebuilds though) and got some really great development from my freshmen making me think that they have legit tournament ability come jr/sr season.

Hope this thread was a good read, I'll put some small updates after each sim of the NT as well!

Hey, thanks for the end of season love there....It was a very bumpy season for sure but just making the tourney was a huge bonus for this team.   We'll be much better next season!

These reports are a great read!

Thanks for putting in the time!