Heartland Season Preview:

There are 7 human coaches in the Heartland this season. Looks to be a bit of a reloading season for the conference, with only one team ranked in the pre-season top 25.

Incarnate Word: Coach davefilby returns 9 players from an NT Championship game appearance and checks in with the pre-season #1 ranking. SF Roger Lewis (2nd-team pre-season AA), SG Christopher LeBlanc (pre-season honorable mention AA), and C William Hart (pre-season honorable mention AA) are a diverse set of headaches for opposing defenses. The starters here are as good as any offensively, depth and defense are the potential weaknesses for IW. They hope to make their 4th straight Final Four and appear to be the strong favorite to win the conference.

Rockhurst: Coach indiansrck27 has a senior laden team (six of them) led by PG Carl Lamb (pre-season honorable mention AA). The attack is perimeter-oriented but don't sleep on the big-men. True freshman C Wesley Roosevelt is the highest rated recruit I recall seeing in Iba (OVR 629) and will be a D-II monster before he graduates. Experienced and talented, definitely a tournament team.

N Alabama: Coach mjs22 and company will defend you as soon as your get off the bus. Eight upperclassmen will do some damage in the fastbreak/press uptempo attack. Expect a track meet when facing them, they scored 218 points in two pre-season games. An uncomfortable matchup due to their athleticism, defense, depth and experience. Also a tournament team.

W Florida: Coach cspangler should have an interesting season. Fresh off a sweet 16 appearance, he brings in 6 freshmen but still returns some talent. The backcourt of William Applegate and Jon Graf can stroke it from outside, but W Florida may struggle in some matchups against some of the deeper, more experienced teams. Cspangler is a good coach, but W Florida may go as far as the kids take them.

St Edwards: Coach gohall is fresh off a Final Four appearance, but brings 5 freshmen into the mix. A similar story to W Florida, but a little more emphasis on athleticism, defense and post-play (9 PFs and Cs on the roster!). It will be interesting to see if some of the press teams can exploit the lack of team-wide ball handling.

W Alabama: Coach justasample has PG Steven Flowers (pre-season honorable mention AA). Fellow seniors Justin Hanner and Carl Eakes will also bomb away from the perimeter, but the big men need to do some growing up. The bigs can rebound and swat shots but could be end up in foul trouble too frequently. There are some tough matchups in conference with the press teams able to exploit a stamina advantage. They'll win their share, but some matchups will just be bad matchups.

St Mary's (TX): Coach rwright is in his first year at the former powerhouse. Welcome to the league, wait til next season when you can get more of your own players on the roster. Divide your season into games versus Sims and those versus human coaches. Not only do they get the conference slate, but non-con games against N Florida (#2) and Lander (#7).

Thanks for starting this again Dave. Have really missed these the past few seasons. Will try to get something up about the Peach when I have time to review the teams (maybe a fellow Peacher will do it before me too).

Peach Belt Season Preview:

There are 9 human coaches in the Peach Belt Conference this year, which saw it's conference prestige fall back to a B after a brief moment on top. Even though N. Florida won the championship again, the bottom-feeding sim teams were bad, even for sims. One new coach and one 3rd year coach can hopefully turn 2 of those programs around. There are 4 teams in the preseason top 25, three of them in the loaded south division and Clayton St up north. 8 teams have enough talent to make the dance, but with all the young players this season, 6-7 is more realistic.

N. Florida: teamvip's team is terrifying every year. Not only are his boys the defending national champions, but he has 3 national titles in the last 5 years along with 1 title game loss in that span. He returns 10 players from last season and begins the year ranked #2 in the polls. PF Kenneth Prejean (1st-team preseason AA), PG Osvaldo Navarro (3rd-team preseason AA), SG Bryant Swindell and C Michael Carr (preseason honorable mention AA), SG Daniel Forsyth, and C Jonathan Zumstein can all score, giving opposing defenses nightmares. The post players are elite defenders as well. Kenneth Prejean would be a starter for any major D1 program. This team is deep, with only a slight weakness in defense at the PG position. They are the favorite to win the conference yet again and aspire to defend their hardware.

Lander: The one time N. Florida didn't make the title game in the last 5 seasons, Lander did. Coach getbedarded has 3 national titles during his 49 years at the helm and comes into this season ranked preseason #7. This squad is not as deep as N. Florida, but the major 6-7 contributors are just as scary and are returning hungry from an elite 8 trip. PF Miro Ivancovic (2nd-team preseason AA), PF Norman Sherrod, and C Erasmo Rossi form the best trio of big men in the conference. Add 3 perimeter scorers at the SG/SF positions and the exceptional PG Lin Chinn and getbedarded has the pieces to make a deep run. Although a lack of elite passing and depth are issues, expect 1 or 2 of his four freshmen to vastly improve before season's end.

USC Upstate: towlie's team begins the season ranked #5. Nobody is really sure how coach towlie landed the #15 SF John Kogan (1st-team preseason AA) four seasons ago when we were doing 3.0 recruiting for the first time, but he begins the season rated 889 and shows no signs of slowing his improvement yet. By the way, he is a junior. The only thing keeping him from dominating the national POY conversation is towlie's strict adherence to the slowdown offensive tempo. The style seems to work for him though, and while the remaining players not named Kogan are not as dominant as some other teams in the division, the only glaring weakness is a lack of good passing. Kogan, along with C Scott Beck, PF Shawn Defreitas, and SG Genaro Costa will handle the scoring duties. The team is looking to improve on its sweet 16 run from last season.

Kennesaw St: Coach adlorenz only brings back 6 players from last year's sweet 16 dance and has recruited the best-named class in Peach history. SF Earl Geary "Tea," PF Cory "Booty" Swett, C Dallas Davis, and PG Morris Jesus will be the butt of many bad jokes and puns over the next four seasons. Joking aside, the only 3 upperclassmen on this roster are elite defenders and perimeter scorers, so this team just might just lead DII in 3-pointers. PG Raymond Leddy (1st-team preseason AA), SG Christopher Wong, and SF Randolph Collinsworth will test even the mightiest perimeter defenders. Although depth is clearly lacking this year, even the underclassmen can play defense and this team fully expects to make the NT again.

UNC Pembroke: Rounding out the south division is coach skinnycat's baby squad. If you thought Kennesaw's 6 freshmen were a lot, the slim feline has 7 of them. Known for re-labeling players into odd positions to fool the sim gameplans and frustrate the humans (doing what cats do), skinnycat will be starting a bunch of SF's and PF's this year. William Barnett (fastest guy alive 100spd/100sta), Richard Alves, Santos Duran, Anthony Mason, and even freshman Philip Ripley are very talented defenders and the 3-2 zone will frustrate many teams. Alves and Duran can get buckets too, so count on this team making the tourney again despite their youth and inexperience.

Clayton St: In the north division, Coach wildblue leads this preseason #14 squad after getting bounced in the 1st round of the NT a year ago. This is a fast team that can defend, but will need to rely on only a few scorers. Their best shooter is a 94 PER freshman without much IQ yet, so SF Michael Fox and C Jason Jones are going to be punching teams in the mouth with inside baskets. PG Dean Joseph will carry the backcourt and this team should make the NT fairly easy with an extremely daring non-conference schedule boosting their SOS ranking. Teams with great interior defense might be Clayton St's cryptonite.

Columbus St: After barely making the dance as a 16-seed last season, pdxblazerfan looks to earn more favor from the seeding committee this year by fielding a team with much-improved interior defense anchoring the zone scheme. C Timothy Lowry, C Aaron Fellows, and PF Amos Byrd will look to slow down opposing teams in the paint with their above average athleticism and defense. Also returning are SG Stephen Zeitz (1st-team preseason AA) and PF Stephen Myers, who will be heavily relied on to provide scoring for this squad. Zeitz is a beast on offense, but pales in comparison to other top players in the conference on the defensive end. The team only has 1 good ballhandler in PG Frank Nevius, so pressing teams may be able to exploit that weakness.

Augusta St: Two seasons ago, coach Asharriger began the monumental task of rebuilding this team from the depths of sim despair. Bringing in the highest rated recruiting class in the conference with 6 recruits, expect the young kids from this class and Asharriger's sophomores to get lots of playing time as this team looks to clean out the chaff of a program that's been ignored for 10 years. Soph point guards Marcelino Russo and James Gigliotti will make the headlines for this team which is going to be fighting for the north division crown in a few short seasons.

Armstrong Atlantic St: After only 1 year run by the sim, coach strang's program isn't quite in as much turmoil as Augusta St, and this team has enough talent to make the NT. PF Matthew Bibler (preseason honorable mention AA), SG Sandy Roberts, and PG Tim Hensley will do most of the damage on offense. The starting lineup will look to shutdown the inside with good interior defense, although the bench is not very athletic and lacks defense. Expect this team to slow down the pace to squeeze more minutes out of their starters.

wow. could this be the return of the D2 Iba season thread?

Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference Preview

This is my first time doing this, but the best conference in IBA also needs a preview. The CVAC is sitting at 9 coaches, but has been running into problems lately with the new recruiting due to our proximity (all schools are in North Carolina, South Carolina, or Virginia).

Longwood

With 9 upperclassmen snewell12’s team is looking to make it past the second round for the first time since season 89. They are led by their five senior guards who all have more than 60 ATH, 60 SPD and 55 DEF. In addition to that their four junior frontcourt players all have more than 48 ATH, 49 DEF and 65 LP. Although they may be brought down by starting a freshman watch out for them in the Postseason. The favorites in the West, there are plenty of other good teams that look to stop them.

Anderson

Anderson is my favorite team in the CVAC, but that might just be because I am their coach. They have plenty of depth this year, but no clear superstar which could hinder them when it comes to making a deep run into the postseason. I hope to be able to finally break my Sweet 16 curse, but there are plenty of good teams that will get in my way. They look to be the favorites in the East but anything could happen in the crazy good CVAC.

Erskine

First year coach mdnaber (taking over for bahul) looks to continue the success at Erskine. The team is led by Alushegun Ahumada (Honoraable Mention AA) with his 100 LP and 100 REB will be tough to defend. With 5 freshmen on the team and only 2 seniors they may struggle from their lack of experience, but expect them to get better as the season goes on, and they will be even better next season.

Mount Olive

Bbunch’s squad is another young team with only one senior and 4 freshmen. Slade is a big threat from the outside with 91 SPD, 53 LP, and 91 PER, but don’t focus your defense too much on him or else you will get burnt by Thomas^2 near the basket. After all the success he had at Longwood, bbunch is still trying to make it past the sweet 16 at Mount Olive, could this be the year?

Coker

Ibrown1’s team surprises me every year. I have learned to never underestimate them and this year is no different. They have four very capable scores both with Lau and Fincher from deep and Riddle and Peters close to the basket. They will be another competitor in the East that will look to make it past the 1^st round of the NT.

Pfeiffer

Another constant contender, zorzii’s team is taking a step back this season with 5 freshmen. Michael Swift should be an All-American this year after winning Player of the Year for the CVAC last season. Will he be enough to continue the success at Pfeiffer or will teams double-team him and make Pfeiffer fall short of the NT.

Lees-McRae

Another young team in the CVAC, is a stretch to make the NT this season. Steven Forand, another possible All-American, will try to shoot this team there but they will have to face plenty of good teams along the way.

St. Andrews Presbyterian

Yaklen68’s team made the NT tournament last season after a 7 year drought, but they are only returning 1.5 starters, and they have a roster of 8 lower classmen. Could this be the start of another drought in Laurinburg, or will the improvement of their player be enough for St. Andrews to make the NT again.

Queens U. (NC)

Second year coach jerfen_33 has nothing to lose this season, except for four mediocre seniors that were sim recruited. He is still in the rebuilding phase but look for Queens to be ready to compete in a couple of seasons.

The sims in the conference could also compete this season. Belmont Abbey has 11 upper classmen 9 of which were recruited by bandb. I wouldn’t be surprised if they made the second round of the NT. Limestone has 8 upperclassmen four of which were recruited by t22u they also have a chance at making the NT. Barton probably won’t make the postseason but a few conference wins could destroy the hopes and drdreams of other teams in the CVAC.

Posted by carson333 on 4/4/2017 10:59:00 AM (view original):
Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference Preview

This is my first time doing this, but the best conference in IBA also needs a preview. The CVAC is sitting at 9 coaches, but has been running into problems lately with the new recruiting due to our proximity (all schools are in North Carolina, South Carolina, or Virginia).

Longwood

With 9 upperclassmen snewell12’s team is looking to make it past the second round for the first time since season 89. They are led by their five senior guards who all have more than 60 ATH, 60 SPD and 55 DEF. In addition to that their four junior frontcourt players all have more than 48 ATH, 49 DEF and 65 LP. Although they may be brought down by starting a freshman watch out for them in the Postseason. The favorites in the West, there are plenty of other good teams that look to stop them.

Anderson

Anderson is my favorite team in the CVAC, but that might just be because I am their coach. They have plenty of depth this year, but no clear superstar which could hinder them when it comes to making a deep run into the postseason. I hope to be able to finally break my Sweet 16 curse, but there are plenty of good teams that will get in my way. They look to be the favorites in the East but anything could happen in the crazy good CVAC.

Erskine

First year coach mdnaber (taking over for bahul) looks to continue the success at Erskine. The team is led by Alushegun Ahumada (Honoraable Mention AA) with his 100 LP and 100 REB will be tough to defend. With 5 freshmen on the team and only 2 seniors they may struggle from their lack of experience, but expect them to get better as the season goes on, and they will be even better next season.

Mount Olive

Bbunch’s squad is another young team with only one senior and 4 freshmen. Slade is a big threat from the outside with 91 SPD, 53 LP, and 91 PER, but don’t focus your defense too much on him or else you will get burnt by Thomas^2 near the basket. After all the success he had at Longwood, bbunch is still trying to make it past the sweet 16 at Mount Olive, could this be the year?

Coker

Ibrown1’s team surprises me every year. I have learned to never underestimate them and this year is no different. They have four very capable scores both with Lau and Fincher from deep and Riddle and Peters close to the basket. They will be another competitor in the East that will look to make it past the 1^st round of the NT.

Pfeiffer

Another constant contender, zorzii’s team is taking a step back this season with 5 freshmen. Michael Swift should be an All-American this year after winning Player of the Year for the CVAC last season. Will he be enough to continue the success at Pfeiffer or will teams double-team him and make Pfeiffer fall short of the NT.

Lees-McRae

Another young team in the CVAC, is a stretch to make the NT this season. Steven Forand, another possible All-American, will try to shoot this team there but they will have to face plenty of good teams along the way.

St. Andrews Presbyterian

Yaklen68’s team made the NT tournament last season after a 7 year drought, but they are only returning 1.5 starters, and they have a roster of 8 lower classmen. Could this be the start of another drought in Laurinburg, or will the improvement of their player be enough for St. Andrews to make the NT again.

Queens U. (NC)

Second year coach jerfen_33 has nothing to lose this season, except for four mediocre seasons that were sim recruited. He is still in the rebuilding phase but look for Queens to be ready to compete in a couple of seasons.

The sims in the conference could also compete this season. Belmont Abbey has 11 upper classmen 9 of which were recruited by bandb. I wouldn’t be surprised if they made the second round of the NT. Limestone has 8 upperclassmen four of which were recruited by t22u they also have a chance at making the NT. Barton probably won’t make the postseason but a few conference wins could destroy the hopes and drdreams of other teams in the CVAC.

It may be worth a PB-CVAC annual challenge. I think the term "best" might be being used a bit liberally in this instance.

Idk seems a little disrespectful of heartland and west virginia...heck even n. sun has some great teams. An easier way would be to come up with a scoring system like 1pt for a team in the PI, 2pts for a team in the NT, 2pts for a PI champion, and 2pts for each NT win. Obv just shooting from the hip but it's an idea.

Posted by pdxblazerfan on 4/4/2017 3:15:00 PM (view original):
Idk seems a little disrespectful of heartland and west virginia...heck even n. sun has some great teams. An easier way would be to come up with a scoring system like 1pt for a team in the PI, 2pts for a team in the NT, 2pts for a PI champion, and 2pts for each NT win. Obv just shooting from the hip but it's an idea.

No disrespect here. Peach & CVAC both have 9 human coaches, it's a natural for a challenge. It can be tough to get everyone on board, but Heartland/CVAC had a challenge going for a long time and it spiced up non-con.

If someone would be willing to organize it i'd love to have the CVAC/PBC challenge.

In the still villainous, still upstart Northern Sun, look for several teams to continue the tradition of busting fictional simulated office Iba D2 brackets…Here’s the breakdown of how the teams look this season.

Northern Sun East

Concordia St. Paul: speespa enters the season with CUSP ranked 23^rd after making the NT the last couple of seasons. With the departure of davidbengals and yungs from the conference, this leaves speespa’s squad in a good position to win the division, while new coaches build their programs. A strong senior class of four will lead this team. Joe Pitts (99BH, 82DE) will be one of the better point guards in the country. Without the normal perimeter threat the Golden Bears have had in recent seasons, look for speespa to lean on Center George Jones (97 LP) for a good portion of the offensive load. Look for at least a S16 from speespa’s team this season.

Minnesota St. Moorhead: gabby123 took over the Dragons after davidbengals took a position with a D1 program with La Tech, and after a rough first season look for Minn St Moorhead to challenge for the top of the division. The overall team rating (600) is right where Concordia is (604). What particularly stands out about this Dragons team is the post play. They have the 2^nd rated LP team rating in D2. Seniors Robert Titcomb (100LP) and Alton Haugh (90LP) will be a tough combo to defend. Look for Moorhead to surprise this season and get at least an NT bid, and the main limitation will be team defense (49).

Northern St: johnmacdan took over this team just this season, so it will take a little while before he will be able to put his influence on the roster. However, there are 9 upperclassmen, so with the high IQ’s this team could hold its own. Overall ratings and key category ratings are not high enough now to give a good chance at an NT bid, but getting into the PIT would be a good first step toward building the Wolves program.

Minnesota-Duluth: Even though this is an AI team, yungs still has a strong imprint on the team, with 6 players remaining from his tenure. While no human coach will mean the team likely does not do as well as it would otherwise do, the overall team rating of 601 means Minn-Duluth is a danger to upset teams in the conference. A couple of senior scoring threats Ward (100LP) and Lumley (93PE) will keep this Bulldog team dangerous.

Northern Sun West

New Mexico Highlands: long_ge’s squad looks to be one of the stronger versions of this team. Last year, the Cowboys lost in the E8 and is looking to build on that this year. The team is very fast again with good ball handling, good stamina, good FT, and multiple scoring threats. The Cowboys will be led by PG Frank O’ Neal (100SP, 99BH) and PF Michael Kang (858 overall rating). Expect the uptempo style to continue to push their natural advantage but could be vulnerable to teams that can control the tempo.

Wayne St: jtreeves has seen 30 straight NT bids, so we can go ahead and reserve a spot for the Wildcats, despite this being a relative rebuilding year, having lost 5 seniors last season. This year’s version of the team has its normal defense-first roster jt usually brings. The team’s success in this season will at least in part be determined by the development of some of the younger perimeter options, like freshmen Michael Marshall (PE77), Jason Thomas (PE69), and sophomore Edgar Craft (PE72).

I think North Florida will be tough to challenge. Maybe Dave can. I see this state as an advantage. It seems he gets good player. I know Getbe is always competitive, but we are crowded at SC, NC, and the Virginias, which makes for less options.

Carson : Pfeiffer is going NT. No doubt.

The Yarnell Invitational has its own thread but we will be previewing the tournament now in the Iba season thread. All rankings and ratings mentioned here were taken during the pre-season. By the way, if a Peach/CVAC Challenge is in the works, keep in mind this tournament runs from games 5-9 and pretty much always has a participant from both conferences.

This year’s participants are:

#2 North Florida (Peach Belt)
#10 St. Leo (Sunshine)
#11 NMHU (Northern Sun)
#12 Harding (Gulf South)
#17 Dominican (Central Atlantic)
NR Coker (CVAC)

North Florida – teamvip’s squad is probably the closest thing to a favorite we would have in this tournament in any year. Having won 3 of the last 5 NT’s and having reached at least the S16 seven straight seasons, this year’s team looks typically elite for N Florida. Coming into the season with the 5^th overall team rating, the team will be led by a defense that ranks 3^rd overall (73).

St. Leo – Now in the 10^th year at the helm, geneferrell has been winning at an 81% clip but has recently brought St. Leo to a new level, breaking into the Elite 8 of a tough field last season. This year, the team is led by 5 seniors and has the 3^rd overall rating. Watch for this St. Leo team to control the game from the perimeter with three upperclassmen ranking 96 or better and D2 leading 62 PE rating (only 5 div1 schools rate higher).

NMHU – long_ge now hosting the Yarnell brings the typical FB/FCP uptempo style back this season, following a loss in last year’s Elite 8. This year’s squad brings high team speed (64) and good ball handling (60) both ranking best in the nation, as well as high rated FT (B-). This year’s team is an ideal mix for this system. (Yeah, feels weird to write two previews on my own team in the 3rd person, but...well, whatever...)

Harding – hackerhog’s team comes into the season ranked 12 with the overall 15 team rating. Having won a title and been in several championship games, the last couple of seasons have been some of the best in recent seasons, both going 27-5, reaching the S16, and getting a 1-seed last season. Led by 5 seniors, this year’s team looks to be balanced (46 PE/47 LP) but with substantial scoring threats in both areas (Keys – 92PE, Chisom 94LP).

Dominican – For bvb24’s squad to be the 5^th highest pre-season ranked team in the Yarnell, it would be easy to say they are underrated, having only lost 3 games in 2 seasons and reaching 28 straight NT’s. Having reached the title game 4 years ago, this Dominican team specializes in the Ath/Def combo rated 68 in both, ranking each in the top 5 of D2. A lot of the offense will come from Aaron Pogue again (PE99).

Coker – Representing the CVAC, lbrown1’s team has made recent deep NT recent making the F4 in season 86 and the E8 in season 90. Despite not having a pre-season ranking, this Coker team comes in with strong defense and athleticism, rated 13^th and 8^th in D2. A couple of seniors at forward could be real difference makers, Robert Riddle (100DE, 89 LP) and Ronald Lau (PE 91).

Idk zorzii, seems to me that he is actually trapped in Florida because of us. It's not a terrible place to be trapped, but since every surrounding state is full of schools it costs him a fortune to find and battle for the recruits he does get out of state...being in Florida also comes at a price I think.

Not so for the west coast teams, which have been able to take advantage of the scarce human coaching out there.

Posted by long_ge on 4/6/2017 11:30:00 PM (view original):
The Yarnell Invitational has its own thread but we will be previewing the tournament now in the Iba season thread. All rankings and ratings mentioned here were taken during the pre-season. By the way, if a Peach/CVAC Challenge is in the works, keep in mind this tournament runs from games 5-9 and pretty much always has a participant from both conferences.

This year’s participants are:

#2 North Florida (Peach Belt)
#10 St. Leo (Sunshine)
#11 NMHU (Northern Sun)
#12 Harding (Gulf South)
#17 Dominican (Central Atlantic)
NR Coker (CVAC)

North Florida – teamvip’s squad is probably the closest thing to a favorite we would have in this tournament in any year. Having won 3 of the last 5 NT’s and having reached at least the S16 seven straight seasons, this year’s team looks typically elite for N Florida. Coming into the season with the 5^th overall team rating, the team will be led by a defense that ranks 3^rd overall (73).

St. Leo – Now in the 10^th year at the helm, geneferrell has been winning at an 81% clip but has recently brought St. Leo to a new level, breaking into the Elite 8 of a tough field last season. This year, the team is led by 5 seniors and has the 3^rd overall rating. Watch for this St. Leo team to control the game from the perimeter with three upperclassmen ranking 96 or better and D2 leading 62 PE rating (only 5 div1 schools rate higher).

NMHU – long_ge now hosting the Yarnell brings the typical FB/FCP uptempo style back this season, following a loss in last year’s Elite 8. This year’s squad brings high team speed (64) and good ball handling (60) both ranking best in the nation, as well as high rated FT (B-). This year’s team is an ideal mix for this system. (Yeah, feels weird to write two previews on my own team in the 3rd person, but...well, whatever...)

Harding – hackerhog’s team comes into the season ranked 12 with the overall 15 team rating. Having won a title and been in several championship games, the last couple of seasons have been some of the best in recent seasons, both going 27-5, reaching the S16, and getting a 1-seed last season. Led by 5 seniors, this year’s team looks to be balanced (46 PE/47 LP) but with substantial scoring threats in both areas (Keys – 92PE, Chisom 94LP).

Dominican – For bvb24’s squad to be the 5^th highest pre-season ranked team in the Yarnell, it would be easy to say they are underrated, having only lost 3 games in 2 seasons and reaching 28 straight NT’s. Having reached the title game 4 years ago, this Dominican team specializes in the Ath/Def combo rated 68 in both, ranking each in the top 5 of D2. A lot of the offense will come from Aaron Pogue again (PE99).

Coker – Representing the CVAC, lbrown1’s team has made recent deep NT recent making the F4 in season 86 and the E8 in season 90. Despite not having a pre-season ranking, this Coker team comes in with strong defense and athleticism, rated 13^th and 8^th in D2. A couple of seniors at forward could be real difference makers, Robert Riddle (100DE, 89 LP) and Ronald Lau (PE 91).

Should be an interesting tournament. Strong field, the Yarnell always shines a light on who's a contender. North Florida gets a lot of love (and deservedly so), good luck to the participants in knocking the king off the mountain.

Posted by pdxblazerfan on 4/6/2017 11:38:00 PM (view original):
Idk zorzii, seems to me that he is actually trapped in Florida because of us. It's not a terrible place to be trapped, but since every surrounding state is full of schools it costs him a fortune to find and battle for the recruits he does get out of state...being in Florida also comes at a price I think.

Not so for the west coast teams, which have been able to take advantage of the scarce human coaching out there.

It's all about geography. To say he benefits because of Florida is a bit of a misnomer. To say teamvip benefits because he shares 500+ miles south from Jacksonville with St. Leo, that's a valid argument. Agreed that if Florida is bare teamvip is in trouble, but fortunately for him, Florida always has a lot of recruits (and a lot of sim coaches). I would rather be in Jacksonville FL than Greenville SC. Or GA/NC/VA.

But hey, if I REALLY wanted to be in Florida I'd join the Sunshine conference. So I'll just sit here, eating my sour grapes, and refusing to put my money where my mouth is :)

Also - I think Texas and California is really where it's at. More so than Florida.