CVAC Preview
CVAC EAST
Erksine is the top team in the conference, returning 5 seniors. With new coach bahul who has had solid DIII success, they will probably be the favorites in the conference. Joseph Brennan might be one of the best guards in DII
Coker has some solid talent , especially in the front court with Michael Reger and James Hunt
Belmont Abbey has some solid depth, strong defense and a lot of tweener jack-of-all-trades players that can do a lot of good things, but they will struggle against press teams due to not having very good passing.
Lees-Mcrae will have to rely heavily on Murillo's shooting. A few of their other starters play good defense. Otherwise, they will struggle, as they have a relatively young team. 2nd year coach Hurkman has some work to do to have them return to the PIT, which is probably a likely best-case scenario for them.
Anderson starts 5 seniors, which is good. However, they are Anderson, which means they never win anything, and their Seniors aren't great at basketball.
Barton has 9 underclassmen. They are coached by a robot. They have minimal talent. So things basically suck for them.
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CVAC WEST
While the strength of the conference has historically been in the west, it doesn't seem that way this season.
Limestone has rebounding, inside, and outside shooters, and little to no passing. They will need to play isoball and do a great job of rebounding their misses. 2nd year coach Guzzoid is an unknown, but did well his first season in D1.
Longwood has 10 underclassmen. Their 2 seniors are preseason all-americans, though. The inside-out combination of Lauderdale and Wilson will have to carry the team. Expect a lot of slowdown as they will need their starters in the game as long as possible. Also, they're playing a doubleheader tonight in St. Louis Missouri and Kingsville, TX. That's right. I'm sure their kids will adapt well to the adversity. Or they will just die of exhaustion.
Queens can't pass or shoot from the outside,but they can run,jump, and defend very well. They will need to keep the game as ugly as possible and rely on fast breaks, rebounds, steals, and overall chaos. Muskies is a veteran coach and he'll have them playing at their best.
Pfieffer is coached by a robot for the first time in 50 seasons. So sad. Their talent is average and coach Sim AI will have everyone jacking up 3 pointers as usual, whether they can shoot or not.
St. Andrews has 8 underclassmen. Their 4 seniors are mostly average players. They will be better once the youngins grow up a bit.
Mt. Olive has been beaten up in the CVAC West for decades. The perennial doormats most likely still suck.
Predictions.
East Erksine 15-1, Coker 12-4, Bel Abbey 10-6, Lees Mcrae 9-7, Anderson 5-11, Barton 2-14
West Limestone 10-6, Longwood 10-6, Queens 9-7, Pfieffer 6-10, St. Andrews 6-10, Mt. Olive 2-14
Tourney Seeds
NT - (4) Erksine #2 seed, Coker #7 seed, Bel Abbey #9 seed, Limestone #10 seed
PIT - Longwood #3 seed, Queens #5 seed, Lees Mcrae #8 seed.