Minnesota State Picked to Repeat in Men's Basketball Media Poll
Minnesota State is picked to repeat as North Central Conference men's basketball champions in a preseason poll of the media.
The Mavericks posted a 2005-06 record of 24-7 overall and 9-3 in the NCC, winning the regular-season title and the North Central Conference tournament. The Mavericks were joined by St. Cloud State and South Dakota in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.
Minnesota State advanced to the NCAA regional semifinal game before falling to eventual NCAA Division II champion Winona State 74-71.
Ten media members responded to the 31th annual poll. Minnesota State was chosen as the champions by five of the poll participants, finished second on two ballots and third on three ballots to edge SCSU by one point. St. Cloud State garnered four first-place votes while South Dakota had one first-place vote.
Non-conference action opens Friday when South Dakota plays in the Disney Tip-Off Tournament. Conference play opens Thursday, January 4th.
Here are the selections with quotes from the responding media (with each pollster's first and second place picks in parenthesis):
Kevin Culhane, Coyote Sports Network (SCSU, USD) - "The league will be very balanced from top to bottom, but in the end look for the Huskies and reloaded Coyotes to battle from the championship."
Pat Sweeney, WDAZ TV, Grand Forks (MSU, SCSU) - "Minnesota State and St. Cloud State look tough again in a tough conference."
Hod Nielsen, Yankton Press & Dakotan (USD, SCSU) - "The NCC is all but ignored in the preseason men's top 25 DII rankings. But the first NCC team on the list is USD (14th). We'll go along with that."
Ray Schon, KDAL, Duluth (MSU, SCSU) - "Minnesota State and Luke Anderson look to be the preseason favorites, but I also like both St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth to challenge."
Jeff Fylling, KIKN, Sioux Falls (SCSU, USD) - "Looks like a long, cold winter and the Huskier one dress the better."
Brian Shaw, KVLY-TV, Fargo (SCSU, MSU) - "It'll be a very interesting season ... I think you'll see a much improved UND squad as Brian Jones takes over as head coach."
Steve Imming, WNAX, Yankton (MSU, USD) - "Title could still be up for grabs in the final weekend in a multi-team race."
Jon Nowacki, Duluth News Tribune (MSU, SCSU) - "With Luke Anderson returning well as an influx of new talent, the defending conference champion Mavericks definitely look like the team to beat."
Jarrod Thomas, KNOX, Grand Forks (MSU, USD) - "Change of guard in Grand Forks. Coach Jones has a tall mountain to climb. Minnesota State is athletic enough to win the conference again this year."
-NCC-
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2006-07 NCC Men's Basketball Media Poll |
| |||||||
|
Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Total |
|
Minnesota St. |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
62 |
|
St. Cloud St. |
4 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
61 |
|
South Dakota |
1 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
53 |
|
Minnesota Duluth |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
32 |
|
Augustana |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
29 |
|
North Dakota |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
24 |
|
Nebraska-Omaha |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
19 |