It is always fun this time of year to begin collecting up the wide range of predictions out there for the upcoming college basketball season.
Of course, the official Horizon League poll came out last week, and UWM was picked for fifth. Needless to say - and some reports in the media have confirmed this - that seems to be indicative of the split that exists among the voting public on the Panthers. There are plenty of people out there who look at them as a title contender, while others have a spot in the lower half of the league reserved for UWM.
So just what are others saying in the various magazines?
USA Today’s College Basketball Special Edition has the Panthers picked for second behind Butler. Tone Boyle is placed on the all-league first team, while Anthony Hill has a spot on the all-league second team. Three UWM games make the list of games to watch in the league this season, with contests at Detroit and Cleveland State along with the home game against Butler highlighted.
And, if you are giving this publication the credibility and knowledge test, it gets points for taking note of James Haarsma. It added a small item about the impact the transfer from Evansville could have in the league next year, something that may or may not fly under the radar in the months to come when people start looking beyond this season.
Lindy’s College Basketball picks the Panthers for third, with Tone on the all-league second team. In essence, the magazine says that if Tone is healthy, the Panthers can make a run at the title. Again on the credibility front, the magazine takes note of the arrival of Kaylon Williams. Panther fans already know his addition is the biggest of the off-season for UWM.
Then there are two publications that have lower expectations for the Panthers. The Sporting News has UWM fifth (and Cleveland State sixth), while Athlon picks the Panthers sixth. The short write-ups in each case still talk about UWM being a possible contender or “in the mix,” but one can conclude those publications find the depth of the league something to brag about this season.
Let’s also not forget that predictions of mid-major leagues can often be after-thoughts. I can tell you for sure many of them are completed in June or July, which is hardly time to consider much in the way of new people (or people returning from injury) and how they will fit into the mix.
And, not unlike the national polls, it is often easy to lean on the BCS leagues for lists, charts and top player features. For example, Athlon did a list of the top players back from injury this season. While I’ve been around long enough to know Tone Boyle wasn’t going to make that list, it is notable that the list included nothing but BCS-team players. One that jumped out at me was Matt Roth of Indiana. He’s a key returnee for the Hoosiers if they want to move up in the Big Ten, for sure. But a strong argument can be made that bringing back Tone’s 13-plus points per game is more important than the return of Roth’s 6.7 points per contest.
Now, if you want to start studying up on some of UWM’s non-league opponents, the overall scouting report would be solid. While there are a few outlier predictions, it is hard to find a team on Milwaukee’s schedule that wasn’t picked to finish in the top half of their respective league. Florida Atlantic seems to have the best upside, with Lindy’s looking at the Owls as an NIT team. FAU plays in the same division of the Sun Belt with Western Kentucky and South Alabama, with all three teams expected to be strong this year.
Northern Iowa, UC Davis and Western Michigan all got a lot of fourth-place picks, while Portland was a consensus fifth-place pick in the West Coast Conference.
And, in the end, the predictions mean next to nothing when the ball goes in the air Nov. 12.
