(09-09-2013 01:18 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(09-08-2013 09:08 AM)PirateMarv Wrote:  Too soon? Might as well since you guys are all depressed about the football season going the way that everybody knew that it was going to go anyway. Basketball is going to be a lot more interesting this year with Memphis gone. I am not familiar with some of the newer teams like UTSA, but I seem to recall that a couple of years ago they were in the tournament.

My picks are as follows and they are just guesses, since I really only know about the retuning CUSA teams, Charlotte, MTSU and ODU:

1. USM
2. UTEP
3. LTU
4. MTSU
5. Charlotte
6. ECU
7. Tulsa
8. UAB
9. Marshall
10. NTU
11. UTSA
12. Tulane
13. ODU
14. FAU
15. FIU
16. Rice

Rice is too high...

& UAB too low!

(09-08-2013 12:44 PM)triple-s Wrote:  Random list of how you might rank the teams before the season starts. Dosent work quite as well as it used to now that Charlote is back.
Char.
Ecu
Fau
Fiu
La tech
Marshall
MT
N.TEXAS
ODU
Rice
Tulane
Tulsa
Uab
Usm
Utep
Utsa

An alphabetical ranking isn't what we had in mind.

1st: UTEP
2nd: All remaining CUSA schools
Last: All departing CUSA schools

(09-09-2013 08:09 PM)Funslinger Wrote:  

(09-08-2013 12:44 PM)triple-s Wrote:  Random list of how you might rank the teams before the season starts. Dosent work quite as well as it used to now that Charlote is back.
Char.
Ecu
Fau
Fiu
La tech
Marshall
MT
N.TEXAS
ODU
Rice
Tulane
Tulsa
Uab
Usm
Utep
Utsa

An alphabetical ranking isn't what we had in mind.

Well it worked well in the past for the Pirates as it was the only time during the season they were ranked on top. Now Charlotte screws gang up.

USM
La Tech
UAB
UTEP
MTSU
UNCC
ECU
Tulsa
Marshall
UNT

USM, Charlotte, La Tech, MTSU, UAB, UTEP, and Tulsa all legitimately think they should be in the top 4...it will make for some good battles.

You guys are in for a rough surprise. Tulsa gets back its top scorer who was injured early last season and got a med RS. We also get back the other top scorer, who was 2nd on the freshman all-time scoring list. Also we get possibly the best freshman point guard Tulsa has ever had back, as well as a big man who was injured last year for much of the season but who still had a series of dominant games, our top 3 point shooter, and our 6th man (scoring pg) off of the bench.

We add a juco all american g/f, a 7 foot center who is absolutely jacked, a sf who is a great outside shooter, and a pf who has wicked hops.... Throw in some other returning pieces as well.

Oh, and.... Danny Manning. You scrubs better watch out.

1. USM
2. LT
3. UTEP
4. MT
5. Charlotte
6. Tulsa
7. ECU
8. Marshall
9. UAB
10. Tulane
11. UNT
12. UTSA
13. ODU
14. FIU
15. FAU
16. Rice

ECU is rebuilding this year...I hate to say it...but I'm really afraid we finish near the bottom. We lost a LOT of scoring and experience from last year. We have very little depth down low.

To answer the original question, "No. Not this year".

Going go out on a limb and say UAB will not finish below 4th in CUSA this year...just sayin'......

1. USM
2. LT
3. MT
4. UAB
5. Charlotte
6. Tulsa
7. UTEP
8. Marshall
9. ECU
10. Tulane
11. ODU
12. North Texas
13. FAU
14. FIU
15. UTSA
16. Rice

This might have been said before, but I never would have thought I'd see the day when Southern Miss was one of the worst football teams, while at the same time one of the best in basketball in our conference. This makes two years in a row.....

1. UAB
2. USM
3. UTEP
4. La Tech
5. Tulsa
6. Charlotte
7. MTSU
8. ECU/Tulane

Seems like a lot of optimism for UAB.

What am I missing because I just don't see UAB challenging for the league title? Someone help me out.

(10-01-2013 02:47 PM)Niner National Wrote:  Seems like a lot of optimism for UAB.

What am I missing because I just don't see UAB challenging for the league title? Someone help me out.

Its just optimism. 5 seniors who have more experience than you could ask for. Second year under Haase, players should have the style of play perfected. We have a point guard, size, and depth. A very good home schedule to get wins. Mainly just optimism to be way better than last year at least. Also huge recruiting weekend this week, Hoops on the Haasephalt on Friday night.

(10-01-2013 02:57 PM)BlazeNBham Wrote:  

(10-01-2013 02:47 PM)Niner National Wrote:  Seems like a lot of optimism for UAB.

What am I missing because I just don't see UAB challenging for the league title? Someone help me out.

Its just optimism. 5 seniors who have more experience than you could ask for. Second year under Haase, players should have the style of play perfected. We have a point guard, size, and depth. A very good home schedule to get wins. Mainly just optimism to be way better than last year at least. Also huge recruiting weekend this week, Hoops on the Haasephalt on Friday night.

I just don't see UAB making the leap from sub-.500 to NCAA team just through experience gained. The jump from junior to senior season isn't much gap. Blazers went 1-8 vs. RPI Top 100 last season, that needs to turn around a lot if they want to finish in the Top 4.

(10-01-2013 02:47 PM)Niner National Wrote:  Seems like a lot of optimism for UAB.

What am I missing because I just don't see UAB challenging for the league title? Someone help me out.

There is a lot of optimism for UAB this year, but there's a lot of optimism for several other teams at top too. La Tech, Southern Miss, and Middle all have a lot coming back. I've got UAB fifth in a conference with eight contenders. Or maybe only seven with ECU's recent losses.

(10-01-2013 02:47 PM)Niner National Wrote:  Seems like a lot of optimism for UAB.

What am I missing because I just don't see UAB challenging for the league title? Someone help me out.

UAB returns 5 seniors who played significant roles last year. A second year under Haase, plus a solid recruiting class should give us the depth UAB was missing last season.

Returning:
6'10" Faz Alihodzic 9.7 points and 4.5 rebound per game. Really turned it on in the second half of the season.
6'6" Jordan Swing 14, 5.8, and 2.7 while playing pretty much every position on the floor.
6'5" Rod Rucker 14.5, 8.2 and 2.3 The epitome of an undersized PF. He was relentless last year and may be one of the best players in the conference this season.
6'4" Robert Williams. 8.5, 6, and 1.4. The ultimate team player. He does a little bit of everything.
6'5" Preston Purifoy. 7.7 and 2.9 I really expected him to bud into a star last year. Maybe a year later than I expected?

We added:
6'4" Chad Frazier who should solve our PG issues. Was a highly rated JUCO player
6'8" CJ Washington(JC) who should give us immediate front court depth
6'4" Thaddeus Rideau(JC) who should help at both guard spots
6'2" Denzell Watts who should provide more depth at guard as a freshman. I know nothing, but I wouldn't be shocked if he redshirted
6'9" Tosin Mehinti He may be raw offensively as a freshman, but should be able to help out defensively immediately.

There is a lot of hope with this team. We should have at least 9 guys in the rotation, and we have some help in the front court that we really missed last year. This team was 7-9 in the conference last season with basically 7 guys playing most games. I think the JUCO additions will make or break the season. Hopefully they are ready to go.

FWIW I see UAB as a top 5 team in the conference this season.

I'm just glad to be playing UAB and Southern Miss again rather than being stuck in a league with Fordham and Dayton.