USD Picked 3rd in Preseason Poll

[Coyote Fan]

Here is the release of the Great West Conference pre season poll. How does USD finish 3rd especially with 3 firt place votes. The most anyone else got was 1. Those that didn't vote USD 1st must have really put USD down in the poll. Just a reason for USD to go out and prove the doubters wrong. USD was by far the best team in the Great West last year and proved it by winning both the regular season and post season titles. Eventhough USD loses Cain a slip to 3rd seems a bit far fetched.

www.usdcoyotes.com/releases/attachments/201011216281922365844-1.pdf

Great West Conference Men’s Basketball
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
Place Team (First-Place Votes) Total Points
1. NJIT 36
2. Houston Baptist (1) 35
3. South Dakota (3) 32
4. Chicago State (1) 29
5. Texas-Pan American 22
6. North Dakota (1) 21
Utah Valley (1)

[pierreyote]

I think a few of the coaches tried to game the system. There is no reason that UND and Chicago State should have a 1 vote. If USD gets 7 points per number 1 vote on three coaches ballots then the other 4 coaches placed them at 6-7. NJIT doesn't get a first place vote but ends up one makes me think other coaches placed them high thinking others wouldn't do the same. They might return a few players but how hard is it to put up stats when your team is losing. Like any preseason poll it is a joke but this takes the cake

[Coyote Fan]

OK since I griped I better have a solution.

Here is my poll with a few comments

1) South Dakota 9-3: USD lost Cain but they still have some nice pieces back and alot of promising new comers. I expect the Coyotes to be about as good as last year. Not as good at the power forward position but better and more athletic at other parts of the team.

2) Houston Baptist 8-4: But depending on the players they have returning. I did not do the research but they had the second best team and should contend again.

3) Utah Valley 7-5: Because I think they really had a down year by their standards. I think they have a bounce back season but I am not basing that on anything other than they seem to have one of the better reputations of the Great West teams.

4) Texas Pan American 6-6: They showed signs of improving throughout the conference season and almost took the Yotes out in Texas. They also played well against the Yotes in Vermillion (I think) and in the conference tourney.

5) New Jersey Tech 5-7: They showed some promise but never really put it together during the crucial parts of the conference season.

6) Chicago State 4-8: One team that never really showed they could be a top half Great West team.

7) North Dakota 3-9: They might even be worse this year than they were last year. They lose a couple of key players and seem lost in the basketball transition.

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

Yeah this poll is a really confusing. NJIT has no first place votes, but is the top team. I do think if they can piece it together they do have a shot. They have a couple pretty good players there.

There had to be some coaches that put USD at the bottom, which would be hard to do after last year. Coyotefan, USD didn't just lose Tyler Cain, they also lost Steve Smith and Roman Gentry. Roman was a KEY defensive player for them, and Steve Smith was a pretty big body down low as well. So USD does have a lot to make up for, especially down low. So maybe USD is picked where they should be.

However, UND getting a first place vote is ridiculous. They might have gotten worse honestly. That was probably the dumbest thing I have ever seen.

[Coyote Fan]

I think Gentry is a pretty big loss especially the way he played down the stretch. I don't think Smith is a huge loss. He was an up and down player for most of his career and forced some bad shots. To his credit he was the best he ever was for the Yotes during alot of his senior year.

I believe the Yotes will make or break based on how they refill the bigs on the roster. I think a slow start is likely but Boots has a way of getting younger teams to gel quickly. The Yotes should be better at the start of the conference season than they will be at the start of the full season.