October 31st, 2007, 3:10 pm · Post a Comment · posted by sporter
Wednesday, Oct. 31
By Steve Porter
College basketball is back and I suspect it’s going to be a quality season for Midwest teams.
Let’s look at the men’s side this week:
Illinois and Missouri will be good and Saint Louis is flashing an improved look. It’ll be interesting to see how the Billikens fare under first-year coach Rick Majerus. My guess is successful.
Nobody has been better the past five years around these parts than SIU-Carbondale, which has gone to the NCAA Tournament each year and won or shared the Missouri Valley Conference title in the past half decade.
The Salukis are overwhelming favorites to repeat and they also should grab the tournament title in St. Louis.
SIUE has a new coach in Lennox Forrester in its last year in D-2. Look for the Cougars to go out with a bang and then make the jump to the big time.
LCCC, coming off a 27-win season and a fourth place finish in the D-2 JUCO nationals, is rebuilding, but has some talented players, including three from Alton: John Steen, Justin Sims and Aaron Henley.
I can’t wait for the first tipoff.
How about you?
