The MVC coaches' pre-season poll was released earlier this week, and the Sycamores were picked to finish 9th by the coaches. Probably not where anyone would like to be, but on the other hand - a pre-season poll is actually meaningless. It still is frustrating to see the Sycamores picked 9th, particularly considering the following:
- Indiana State is one of only four MVC teams to have qualified for every conference tournament since the 2006 season - joining Illinois State, Missouri State, and Southern Illinois. Now, 2006 is somewhat strange, as the Sycamores qualified as the 6th place finisher in the regular season but were bumped by the host Creighton Bluejays who finished in 7th that season. If you count Creighton as a "qualifier" that year, the list would change.
- The Sycamores had the 2nd best conference record against the top 3 teams in regular season conference play last season. Only league champion Creighton did better against the best teams in the league. Creighton went 4-1 vs the other top 3 teams, while Indiana State was next at 4-5 (.444). Here is how each team actually did against the top three: 1. Creighton 4-1 .800; 2. Indiana State 4-5 .444; 3. UNI 2-3 .400; 4. Bradley 3-5 .375; T5. Drake 3-6 .333; T5. SIU 2-4 .333; T5. Illinois State 2-4 .333; 8. Wichita State 2-6 .250; 9. Missouri State 1-7 .125; 10. Evansville 1-8 .111.
Hopefully, the Sycamores will prove the coaches wrong by their play on the field during the season.
GO SYCAMORES!
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