MVC Preseason Poll

[smidge34]

https://twitter.com/roccomiller8/status/1582750576206413824?s=21&t=4bpKfAfQ5grSDmFH0hQkFA

[sparekracer]

Most telling in this... How bad are Valparaiso, Illinois State, and Evansville?

Murray is just way too much of an unknown going into this season to expect to be near the top of the conference.  Can they be?  Sure!  But with only one player coming back that played meaningful minutes last season, it's just too much to expect them to be ranked very high.

Perhaps Valparaiso, Illinois State, and Evansville also had significant turnover?  I'm not exactly sure there.  UIC is also an unknown in the MVC, but they're only ranked higher than Evansville.

Additionally the preseason KenPom rankings have been released:

https://kenpom.com

And Murray State is the 6th ranked MVC team - 126th overall.

By contrast, the highest ranked OVC team is Morehead State at 223.

Austin Peay is at 218.  Belmont is 125th.

Just a stark contrast to where the MVC teams are ranked versus the OVC teams (including Austin Peay had they and Belmont and Murray State remained in the OVC).