Oct. 25, 2005
ST. LOUIS -
With the loss of four starters and the fear of the unknown, the Missouri Valley Conference coaches, media and sports information directors predicted Illinois State to finish 10th in the preseason poll which was unveiled at the annual league media day at the Sheraton City Center.
"Predictions are based on what we have coming back statistical-wise," head coach Porter Moser said. "We lost our top four scorers and that's where we have some unknowns. We have some guys that haven't been on that stage before, we have a lot of freshmen, but I like my unknowns. They are battling hard in practice and we are bigger, stronger and more athletic than we have been the last couple of years, but we definitely are not as experienced."
However, the Redbirds were also tabbed to finish last in the conference prior to the 2004-05 season, but finished sixth with a 17-13 overall record and posted the biggest turnaround in the conference last season.
For the first time in league history, Northern Iowa was chosen as the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball pre-sea¬son favorite. The Panthers received 379 total points and 23 first-place tallies in the poll and return all five starters from last year's 21-11 team. UNI, which tied for third in The Valley standings a year ago, is led by pre-season Player of the Year pick Ben Jacobson. He has also been honored by being named to the 2005 pre-sea¬son Wooden All-America watch list, the first Panther ever to receive mention among the best college basketball players in the country.
UNI's highest previous pre-season pick was last year -- the Panthers were picked for a third-place tie with Creighton.
Creighton, meanwhile, was just behind UNI in the pre-season picks for 2005-06. The Bluejays received 372 points and 15 first-place votes. The Bluejays also have a first-team pre-season player in senior guard Nate Funk. Funk was runner-up to Jacobson for the pre-season player-of-the-year designation. Creigh¬ton returns four starters from last year's NCAA Tournament team and has been to post-season play eight-straight seasons.
Southern Illinois, meanwhile, is picked third in the pre-season poll. The Salukis are four-time defending conference regular-season champions and are led by pre-season all-con¬ference selection Jamaal Tatum. Tatum was a second-team all-league pick as a sophomore last year and averaged 12.3 points and led the squad with 71 three-pointers. The Salukis will be gunning for a fifth-straight NCAA Tourna¬ment appearance under second-year head coach Chris Lowery.
Missouri State and Wichita State also reached post-season play a year ago, as each played in the NIT. The Bears are picked fourth in this year's preseason poll, narrowly edging Wichita State, which is fifth.
The Bears have won 19 games in each of the past two seasons, reaching the finals of the State Farm MVC Tournament both years. Wichita State, meanwhile, has only one starter returning (senior Paul Miller), but the Shock¬ers have shown an increase in wins in each of coach Mark Turgeon's first five seasons, which included a 22-win season a year ago.
Bradley's Marcellus Sommerville hopes to lift the Braves into the upper division in 2006. The Braves are picked sixth in the poll, and Sommerville -- a member of this year's pre-season team and a two-time first-team all-MVC selection -- is one of five starters returning for coach Jim Les.
Drake is seventh in the pre-season predic¬tions, and is followed by Indiana State, Evans¬ville and Illinois State.
