Georgia State has an excellent coach.They have a good team with a few outstanding players.It will be a tough game in atlanta.Injuries can happen but WKU will have too much depth for the Panthers especially in N.O.UTA has a very good coach also and will finish higher than these predictions show.Shields will keep UALR close-the guy can flat coach! Harper is one of the best tourney coaches in the country as proven the last two years-winning with less talent beating teams at crunch time. WKU will be difficult to stop in New Orleans.

(09-17-2013 07:07 PM)mjs Wrote:  Georgia State has an excellent coach.They have a good team with a few outstanding players.It will be a tough game in atlanta.Injuries can happen but WKU will have too much depth for the Panthers especially in N.O.UTA has a very good coach also and will finish higher than these predictions show.Shields will keep UALR close-the guy can flat coach! Harper is one of the best tourney coaches in the country as proven the last two years-winning with less talent beating teams at crunch time. WKU will be difficult to stop in New Orleans.

Close only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades. Close for us usually means about third or fourth in the league, and first out in the tournament.

I am a Harper fan. Harper's record speaks for itself. At the DII level he was a miracle worker in the tournament. In NAIA, he was a miracle worker in the tournament. He has had two very impressive runs at WKU in DI. It is not a coincidence. Harper is an astounding tournament coach.

All that said, I would not put money on WKU against the field. Too many teams can make a case that they will win it. But I wouldn't put money against Harper either.

And we don't have a proven point guard. Point guard is the most important position on the floor. We could lay a total egg this season if no point guard can step up and perform.

As I said during Pappy's picks, the Belt is wide open this year. We are a contender, but by no means a runaway favorite.

Next month we get our first look at the team for the Hillltopper Hysteria (midnight madness). Can't wait to see them scrimmage. I'll let you know how they look then.

And what about South Alabama, Arkansas State, Louisiana Lafayette, et al?

Any of the top 6 teams could knock off any of the other on a given March evening.

(09-18-2013 08:13 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  I am a Harper fan. Harper's record speaks for itself. At the DII level he was a miracle worker in the tournament. In NAIA, he was a miracle worker in the tournament. He has had two very impressive runs at WKU in DI. It is not a coincidence. Harper is an astounding tournament coach.

All that said, I would not put money on WKU against the field. Too many teams can make a case that they will win it. But I wouldn't put money against Harper either.

And we don't have a proven point guard. Point guard is the most important position on the floor. We could lay a total egg this season if no point guard can step up and perform.

As I said during Pappy's picks, the Belt is wide open this year. We are a contender, but by no means a runaway favorite.

Next month we get our first look at the team for the Hillltopper Hysteria (midnight madness). Can't wait to see them scrimmage. I'll let you know how they look then.

It appears like we will be pretty solid at the point. Josh Hagins is a sophomore who had a really nice freshman year starting for much of the season. Devonte Smith is a kid who led teams to championships in high school and juco. JT Thomas originally signed with Toledo out of high school. That's a decent program and he has matured and hopefully improved since then. So on paper we look good, but I'll have to see the 2 new kids in action before I get to excited about them.