UAA High rankings pre-season .

[Ca_ball13]

Going to be exciting season this year in the GNAC. Feel like all the teams got stronger. Excited to see UAA play. 3rd nationally by sporting news and 18th by the d2 bulletin. See what they can do with a true center now.

Rest GNAC got stronger! looking forward seeing Saint Martin's and see if they are for real! Think Central got much stronger with their additions.

[tsull]

Re: UAA High rankings pre-season .

Going to be exciting season this year in the GNAC. Feel like all the teams got stronger. Excited to see UAA play. 3rd nationally by sporting news and 18th by the d2 bulletin. See what they can do with a true center now.

Rest GNAC got stronger! looking forward seeing Saint Martin's and see if they are for real! Think Central got much stronger with their additions.

Total east coast bias on that D2 bulletin. UAA is ranked too low at 18th, and the only top players from the west they mentioned were from Cal Baptist. On every other list and publication, Wiggs is a first- or second-team All-American, and he should be. It would be nice if they did their research a little.

[northernGNAChoopfan]

Re: UAA High rankings pre-season .

Other news for the "West" is that the DII bulletin nabbed Chico in 6th, Cal Baptist in 12th, UAA @ 18th and it named APU as a team to watch. Robert Duncan of Chico nabbed a super 16 spot as did Michael Smith of CBU and deservingly so. Duncan was the CCAA POTY last year. Their teams also made the NCAA tourney last year. Wiggs did not earn GNAC POTY and nor did the Seawolves make the NCAA tourney and they bring back a ton, so I think their ranking is actually pretty spot on. I liked what coach Osborne had to say after the Sporting news tabbed UAA 3rd and Wiggs as a first team all-american... I don't know Chico, Cal Baptist or APU nearly so well, so I can't really say much about their spots in the poll.

http://http://www.goseawolves.com/Vi...B_OEM_ID=13400

I especially think coach Osborne nailed it when he said, "even with an elite individual talent, our success will hinge on our overall depth, talent and teamwork." I think the Seawolves have a lot of potential in the depth, talent and teamwork facets and I think that having that potential along with a solid starting five are exactly why they got tabbed 18th.

Agree with Ca_ball13 in that a handful of GNAC teams look like they might improve and overall the league could be tougher, but a lot was lost from the GNAC last year too, so I see the top 6 spots as potentially being much more fluid this year. SMU has a few players who have a huge upside and they had that "teamwork" thing down pat late last year, so I would expect them to be rallying for a GNAC tourney spot this year too.

[tsull]

Re: UAA High rankings pre-season .

Duncan and Smith are good; Wiggs is the best player in the west and best pro prospect, by far in the West Region. Everyone knows that, scouts, coaches, etc., huge miss by D2 Bulletin.

[Rob_AK]

Re: UAA High rankings pre-season .

Preseason rankings don't mean much and are usually grossly inaccurate. UAA's team is certainly deeper and more balanced this year, but we will have to see how it plays out and if they get the breaks when they need them (and if they can stay healthy). I also believe that Wiggs is more valuable to the team without McGill, as the guy that can make his own shot at the end of the shot clock. Wiggs and McGill were both great players but were somewhat redundant in their roles and I think the "offense" suffered as a result of not really running an offense. Looking forward to this year with cautious optimism.

As for SMU I was rather impressed by Fr. Jordan Kitchen last year. He is going to be a good one for SMU going forward. Whether they have a break through year is probably more a question of how the other GNAC teams do. I see UAA, CWU, WOU as likely tourney teams, but the other three are dependent upon recruiting and I am not sure how that is going to pan out for the likes of WWU, SPU, or UAF. SMU has a real shot at being there. I never count SPU out, but the classless move of their coach taking his recruits when jumping ship is going to be tough to overcome. We shall see.

[tsull]

Re: UAA High rankings pre-season .

While I'll acknowledge that pre-season rankings aren't that important, they are interesting and it reveals the knowledge or lack thereof from the publication that is doing the writing. One doesn't have to be the reigning GNAC player of the year to be an All-American. Avgi was rightfully a pre-season All-American by The Sporting News last year, but a few publications didn't pick WOU to win it despite returning four starters off the GNAC championship team. Even the GNAC coaches picked WWU to win it, thus the amazing amount of love they got on this board last year.

Bottom line: UAA should be the heavy favorite to win the GNAC and possibly the West Region, and Wiggs should be the heavy favorite for GNAC and West Region player of the year. Freaking Ray Charles can see that.

[Rob_AK]

Re: UAA High rankings pre-season .

:tongue:

We will get to see what UAA looks like this Friday night in their Green & Gold scrimmage. Not sure any GNAC team should be considered a heavy favorite (see WWU the last couple of years).

[tsull]

Re: UAA High rankings pre-season .

:tongue:

We will get to see what UAA looks like this Friday night in their Green & Gold scrimmage. Not sure any GNAC team should be considered a heavy favorite (see WWU the last couple of years).

I like UAA's chances, I think they'll have a fantastic team this year. I'm already making my travel plans to watch them play WOU in February, and I'll catch both WOU and UAA over here vs. NNU.