Now that the NBA Draft Deadline has passed and we know that Dillon Jones will be returning to Weber, I thought it would be fun to rank the conference 1-10 based off what we know now about everyone. Here we go:
1. Weber State - The core of their team is returning with Dillon Jones, Steven Verplacken, etc. Jones is the only 1st team all conference player returning to the Big Sky this year. They should hands down be the preseason favorites short of injuries getting in their way.
2. Montana- After Weber, we have the most complete team returning. I like the backcourt of Whitney and Giordan Williams who I believe will be a significant upgrade from Martin. We're good on the wings with Moody and DT both back. The loss of Bannan down low hurts, but hopefully they found something with Sawyer and Jones to go along with Oke. Between those three, I think at a minimum we can hold our own down low.
3. Eastern Washington- Eastern will have to replace their starting backcourt of Steele Venters (transferred to Gonzaga) and Angelo Allegri (graduated) but they do still have enough young talent returning that they should be good assuming they get a decent transfer or 2 in the backcourt. Plus they also return both big men in Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup down low. That alone will still make them a contender next year.
4. Sacramento State- This is where things start to get tough in my mind. Sac State did lose some key pieces from last years team, but they've also done well in the portal this offseason. The one thing I will say is that David Patrick is a hell of a recruiter, but I said the same thing this time last year that I thought they could be a top 3 team and they ended up finishing 6th and being rather disappointing. On paper, I like this team though and they need to contend for one of the top 2 seeds or I think it's fair to start having questions about if David Patrick is all he was cracked up to be.
5. Montana State- Maybe a little bit of a hot take because of so many new faces, but I do think it's possible the cats finish in the top half of the league. I think Matt Logie was an ok hire, I don't think he'll be as good as Sprinkle, but he'll at least have respectable teams every year. It appears to me so far that he's really going hard at adding big time 3 point shooters and they may be a very offense heavy team. So far it doesn't appear to me that he's put a strong emphasis on defense or even good-to-great post players. I don't even know if they've brought in a post player yet. It'll be interesting to see how it shakes out.
6. Northern Arizona- The loss of Jalen Cone definitely hurts, but the late season emergence of Oaklynn Fort should be promising for NAU. They got decent players that I think will be able to pull them out of the gutter and at least make them competitive, but I don't see them doing any major damage next year.
7. Portland State- Similar to NAU, losing Cam Parker definitely hurts and I think Jace Coburn is an overrated coach. You'd be hard pressed to find another D1 team in the country more active in the portal then PSU.
8. Idaho- I like the outside the box hire of Alex Pribble as head coach. I think he will do well, but it will obviously take him some time. He's done decent in the portal using his D2 connections so far. Interesting to see how it shakes out.
9. Northern Colorado- What a fall from grace for UNC. They were extremely disappointing last year and now everyone from last seasons team is gone. I literally don't know how long it will take to get them back to their prior level. It may be a long while before they're relevant again.
10. Idaho State- Poor ISU got crushed by graduation. Brayden Parker is back for ISU, but beyond that there's not much.
1. Weber State - The core of their team is returning with Dillon Jones, Steven Verplacken, etc. Jones is the only 1st team all conference player returning to the Big Sky this year. They should hands down be the preseason favorites short of injuries getting in their way.
2. Montana- After Weber, we have the most complete team returning. I like the backcourt of Whitney and Giordan Williams who I believe will be a significant upgrade from Martin. We're good on the wings with Moody and DT both back. The loss of Bannan down low hurts, but hopefully they found something with Sawyer and Jones to go along with Oke. Between those three, I think at a minimum we can hold our own down low.
3. Eastern Washington- Eastern will have to replace their starting backcourt of Steele Venters (transferred to Gonzaga) and Angelo Allegri (graduated) but they do still have enough young talent returning that they should be good assuming they get a decent transfer or 2 in the backcourt. Plus they also return both big men in Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup down low. That alone will still make them a contender next year.
4. Sacramento State- This is where things start to get tough in my mind. Sac State did lose some key pieces from last years team, but they've also done well in the portal this offseason. The one thing I will say is that David Patrick is a hell of a recruiter, but I said the same thing this time last year that I thought they could be a top 3 team and they ended up finishing 6th and being rather disappointing. On paper, I like this team though and they need to contend for one of the top 2 seeds or I think it's fair to start having questions about if David Patrick is all he was cracked up to be.
5. Montana State- Maybe a little bit of a hot take because of so many new faces, but I do think it's possible the cats finish in the top half of the league. I think Matt Logie was an ok hire, I don't think he'll be as good as Sprinkle, but he'll at least have respectable teams every year. It appears to me so far that he's really going hard at adding big time 3 point shooters and they may be a very offense heavy team. So far it doesn't appear to me that he's put a strong emphasis on defense or even good-to-great post players. I don't even know if they've brought in a post player yet. It'll be interesting to see how it shakes out.
6. Northern Arizona- The loss of Jalen Cone definitely hurts, but the late season emergence of Oaklynn Fort should be promising for NAU. They got decent players that I think will be able to pull them out of the gutter and at least make them competitive, but I don't see them doing any major damage next year.
7. Portland State- Similar to NAU, losing Cam Parker definitely hurts and I think Jace Coburn is an overrated coach. You'd be hard pressed to find another D1 team in the country more active in the portal then PSU.
8. Idaho- I like the outside the box hire of Alex Pribble as head coach. I think he will do well, but it will obviously take him some time. He's done decent in the portal using his D2 connections so far. Interesting to see how it shakes out.
9. Northern Colorado- What a fall from grace for UNC. They were extremely disappointing last year and now everyone from last seasons team is gone. I literally don't know how long it will take to get them back to their prior level. It may be a long while before they're relevant again.
10. Idaho State- Poor ISU got crushed by graduation. Brayden Parker is back for ISU, but beyond that there's not much.
