Salukis Cream of MVC Crop

Plenty of turnover in perennial postseason qualifying conference

> 2007 College Basketball Preview Index | Conference Photo Gallery

> Preseason Top 25 | Players of the Year | Top Freshmen | Expanding The Field | Top 5 Sleepers

> Hang Time: Conference Media Days | Posting Up: Goes Live In 2007-08

> Conference Predictions: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

> Expert Picks: Steve Lappas | Pete Gillen | Sean Farnham

Features ----- WCC ----- 11/10: WCC Has Plenty Of Punch ----- Big West ----- 11/09: Monson Starting Over In SoCal 11/09: Gauchos Getting Bigger In Big West ----- Pac-10 ----- 11/08: Bruins Back On Top Of Pac-10 11/08: Mayo Embracing The Spotlight 11/08: Ducks Are Still Flying High 11/08: UCLA's Showing A Lot Of Love ----- Missouri Valley ----- 11/07: Young Creighton Team Looking To Soar 11/07: Masochistic Scheduling Tendencies 11/06: It's Not Just About Falker 11/06: Salukis Cream of MVC Crop ----- Big Ten ----- 11/05: Speedier Spartans 11/05: Matta’s Starting Over With More Youth 11/04: Hoosiers, The Sequel 11/04: Indiana Going Nowhere But Up ----- Big East ----- 11/03: Forgetting About Last Year 11/02: 'Nova Knows No End 11/02: Hibbert's Standing Front and Center 11/01: Hoyas, Cardinals Are Neck and Neck In Big East ----- SEC ----- 10/31: Big Blue Revival 10/31: Bridging The Tennessee Gender Gap 10/30: Open The SEC, Find A Pearl 10/30: Chomping At The Bit ----- A-10 ----- 10/29: Happiness At The Right Place And Time 10/29: Crossing To The Atlantic ----- ACC ----- 10/26: Young Blood Giving Blue Devils New Life 10/26: Wake Keeping Prosser In Its Thoughts 10/26: Tar Heel To Watch May Not Be Hansbrough 10/26: Sweet Carolina ----- Big 12 ----- 10/25: Embracing Expectations 10/25: Freshmen Duo Has K-State Looking Up 10/24: The Knight In Light Blue 10/24: Kansas Looking Much The Same 10/23: Jayhawks, Longhorns Top Big 12 ----- MWC ----- 10/23: Plaisted's Persistence Paying Off 10/22: Kruger Has UNLV Moving Forward 10/22: Coaching Changes Leave Mountain West Wide Open ----- SoCon ----- 10/21: Not Far From The Same Tree 10/21: Taking The High Road ----- CAA ----- 10/20: George Mason Returns To Top Of CAA 10/20: Drexel's Forgetting About The Past ----- C-USA ----- 10/19: Memphis The Class Of C-USA 10/19: Tigers Are Smelling This Rose -----Horizon----- 10/13: Butler Back On Top 10/13: Graves Gives It One More Shot -----Big South----- 10/11: To The Highest Point

Nov. 6, 2007

By Jerry Palm

Special to CSTV.com

	JERRY PALM Jerry runs the web sites CollegeRPI.com and CollegeBCS.com and a CSTV.com analyst. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- FOOTBALL 12/2: Tigers Land On Their Feet 12/2: Losses Leave BCS In Disarray 11/29: A Merciful End 11/25: A Fitting Chaos 11/22: Games To Be Thankful For 11/18: No-Backup Blues 11/15: Down The Stretch They Come 11/11: Kansas Not Quite In Control 11/11: LSU, Oregon Figure To Be Tops In BCS 11/8: Jockeying For Other BCS Bowls Begins 11/4: No. 2 Ripe For The Picking 11/1: Soft Schedule Warriors 10/28: Road To The BCS - Smooth Travels...For Now 10/25: Road To The BCS - Four On The Floor 10/21: LSU Still Not No. 2 10/14: Road Starts Rocky 10/7: Road To The BCS Is A Bumpy One 8/25: Ohio State Replacing Troy and Ted 8/7: Weis' Cloak of Secrecy 7/10: Another Date, A Lot More Dollars? 3/29: Football Playoff Up to Presidents 11/18: ND Sends Seniors Out In Style 11/11: Michigan Can Finally Look Ahead 11/9: Irish's Faint Title Hopes Alive 11/4: ND Airs It Out 10/28: USC Loss Gives New BCS Hopes 10/21: Thirty-Five Seconds Means Everything 10/7: Irish Efficient In Win 9/30: Problems? What Problems? 9/16: Wolverines Make Statement MEN'S BASKETBALL 1/22: Losers Make The News 1/15: Plenty of Bracket Impact 1/8: Season Lacking Surprise For Now 11/7: Masochistic Scheduling Tendencies 11/6: Salukis Cream of MVC Crop 10/13: Butler Back On Top 7/24: The Game's Toughest Job? 6/24: Sun Belt Goes A Different Route 6/12: The Big Balancing Act 3/29: Brand Speaks on Graduation Rates 3/12: Road To 64: Final Edition 3/6: Make Or Break Time Across The Board 2/27: It's Now Or Never 2/22: Rockets Surge Past Stumbling Huskies 2/21: Locking Up 2/20: Freshman Helps Redbirds Celebrate Senior Day 2/20: At-Large Bids Live Away From Home 2/17: Cats Tame 'Dogs in Battle of Non-BCS Powers 2/15: Purdue Pulls Big Win 2/13: Could Duke's Struggles Keep Them Out? 2/6: Who's Hot, Who's Not 1/30: Conference Play Really The Judge 1/27: A Feeling In The Ayer-s 1/26: Butler Baffles In Win 1/23: Separation At The Top 1/16: Road to the Final 64: First Edition 1/13: Badgers Survive Scare From Northwestern 1/10: Illinois State Throws Monkey Off Its Back 12/16: Oden Returns Home In Buckeye Rout 12/16: Graves Explodes For Butler 12/07: Notre Dame Hits High Tide 12/05: Purdue Handles Loyola At Home 3/31: Hoosiers Are the Talk of Indy 3/25: Looking at the Elite Eight 3/22: Big Ten Anything But 3/12: Air-ing Grievances 3/07: One Last Chance 2/27: All About Team 2/21: Looking At The Bubble 2/14: No. 1 Seeds a Tough Call 2/07: The Home Stretch 1/17: Explaining the Bracket 1/09: The Valley Is High

The Missouri Valley has a nine-year streak of sending at least two teams to the NCAA Tournament, the longest of any non-BCS conference. With all the turnover on the court and on the bench, this streak could be in jeopardy. Less than half the conference's starters from last year return and half of the teams welcome new coaches.

1. Southern Illinois

The Salukis are ranked in the preseason coaches' poll and AP poll for the first time ever. Like many preseason rankings, it is as much a measure of respect for what they have done in the past as it is about they might do this year. Not that the ranking is unjustified. Southern Illinois returns preseason MVP Randal Falker along with versatile Matt Shaw and Bryan Mullins, who last year showed remarkable toughness on defense for a freshman. However, someone needs to step up and fill the void left by Player of the Year Jamaal Tatum and Tony Young. The guys who will be asked to do that are senior Tyrone Green, junior Wesley Clemmons and sophomore Joshua Bone, all of whom were key contributors off the bench last year. Freshmen Brandon Wood and Carlton Fay are expected to pitch in as well.

2. Bradley

The Braves finished last season with a top 40 RPI but didn't have enough big wins to make the tournament. This year, the non-conference schedule gets kicked up a notch, and Bradley may have the horses to pull a big win or two. The Braves will be led by the top two returning scorers in the MVC, guards Daniel Ruffin and Jeremy Crouch, but if they are to succeed, the new guys will have to step up and make it happen. Freshmen big men Will Egolf and Anthony Thompson, along with JUCO 7-footer David Collins, will be asked to help erase the big rebounding deficit of a year ago.

3. Illinois State

Tim Jankovich takes over an experienced and talented group of Redbirds, but they have not tasted much success. The players responsible for 80 percent of last year's offensive output return, including 6-foot-11 inside-outside threat Levi Dyer and last year's MVC Freshman of the Year, Osiris Eldridge. Jankovich, who came over from Bill Self's staff at Kansas, is fortunate to have a corps of seniors like Dyer, forward Anthony Slack and guards Boo Richardson and Dom Johnson in his first year. Not only will they catch on to the new system faster, but they'll also have a sense of urgency as their college careers near an end. It might take a little while to get going, but Illinois State may be the sleeper of the league.

4. Missouri State

Barry Hinson hopes the third time is the charm after just missing the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons. Even though the RPI has not been his friend (the last two MSU teams are two of the top five highest-rated RPI teams ever to be left out of the field), he has upgraded his schedule again. The question is, does he have the team to play it? Four seniors return, including forward Deven Mitchell a First Team, Preseason All-MVC selection, center Drew Richards and forward Dale Lamberth. The Laurie brothers, guards Spencer and Shane, will have to step up their games, but unlike last year, depth is a big question mark.

5. Creighton

Nobody lost more than the Bluejays after last season. Gone is Nate Funk, Anthony Tolliver, Nick Porter and Isaac Miles, and they are taking almost 50 points per game with them. It looked for 24 hours like they were going to lose coach Dana Altman too, but after taking the Arkansas job, he had second thoughts and came back to Omaha. Forward Dane Watts and guards Josh Dotzler, Pierce Hibma and Nick Bahe will have to be more than just a role player this year if Creighton is going to make its eighth trip in 10 years to the NCAA Tournament, and they'll need a lot of help. That will most likely come from Louisville transfer Chad Millard and redshirt freshman Kenny Lawson Jr.

6. UNI

The Panthers had an interesting offseason. They were chosen to represent the United States in the World University Games. They finished 5-1, which was good for ninth place. They are hoping to build on that experience and make a run at the Valley title. The injury bug has already bitten two expected key contributors. Carlton Reed, a transfer from Iowa, broke his foot in the tournament and will miss six weeks, and Kwadzo Ahelegbe is out indefinitely with an injured shoulder. They were also expecting help from JUCO Matt Culliver, but legal problems got him dismissed from school. Fortunately, Eric Coleman, the Valley's leading rebounder, returns for his senior year. He'll have to have big year if UNI has any hopes of challenging for a postseason bid.

7. Wichita State

Gregg Marshall comes over from a very successful run at Winthrop and replaces Mark Turgeon, who left the Shockers for Texas A&M. He inherits a little of the team that started the season 9-0 and peaked at No. 8 in the polls, before a complete collapse left them 17-14 and out of the postseason. After that, Turgeon left, three players transferred, including starter Sean Ogirri, and two of Turgeon's recruits, Evann Baker and Denzel Bowles, backed out. A third recruit, Guy Alang-Ntang, died during a pick-up game. Then, one of Marshall's first recruits, Ejike Hart, had to drop out because of academic issues. Marshall will try to build what's left around preseason all-conference player P.J. Couisnard.

8. Indiana State

Like Wichita State, ISU got off to a good start last year and then tanked. The Sycamores beat NCAA participants Butler and Purdue, before sliding to a last place finish in the MVC. New coach Kevin McKenna brings his nine years of experience at Creighton and inherits a team with four returning starters. They will be led by senior Gabe Moore and two of the Valley's most promising freshman of a year ago, Marco Stinson and Cole Holmstrom.

9. Evansville

Marty Simmons returns to his alma mater to try to get the Purple Aces back to their days of glory. Evansville hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1999, and this isn't likely the year either. He can pretty much start from scratch. Jason Holsinger is the only one of the Aces' top four scorers from last season that returns. Big things are also expected of Jay Couisnard, the brother of Wichita State's PJ Couisnard.

10. Drake

The Bulldogs gave former coach Dr. Tom Davis a great ride off into the sunset. They won the state title of Iowa by beating the Hawkeyes, Iowa State and UNI twice, and finished with a winning record for the first time in 20 years.  Now, Keno Davis takes over for his father and his first task will be replacing four starters. But it speaks to the strength of this league that even the team picked for last has some pretty good players. Klayton Korver, brother of former Creighton star and current Philadelphia 76er Kyle, is the one returning starter and he'll be joined by Josh Young, who averaged almost 11 points per game.