1. Toledo
2. Western Michigan
3. Ball State
4. Eastern Michigan
5. Central Michigan
6. Northern Illinois

For those voting Toledo so far, I'm curious why? I'm voting Ball State who return Persons, Teague, Moses, and add KJ Walton.

I see 1-3 close in the West between EMU, Ball State and Toledo.

This is the most talented EMU squad since the Earl Boykins days and the only team that rivals Buffalo right now in terms of athleticism and overall talent. They just don't have a very inspiring offense and I'm not convinced Murphy is any good as a coach. They SHOULD be the top team in the West but they could easily underwhelm.

Speaking of underwhelming: Ball State. They've recruited well under Whitford but have nothing to show for it: Whitford is 1-5 in the MAC tournament.

Toledo beat EMU who got hot at the end of the year without Fletcher. They've got talented players but I'm not sure they'll be consistent enough on offense this year to make up for poor defensive breakdowns which always plague Kowalczyk teams

I think there is BIG drop off from #3 to #4 in the West. Eugene German's talent will be wasted again this year at NIU.

1. EMU
2. Ball State
3. Toledo
4. WMU
5. CMU
6. NIU

Eastern beat exactly 1 team ranked in the top 150 last year. They were drubbed by all three top 100 teams they played. They did manage to get a #3 seed in the NAIA bracket. People often confuse athleticism with talent.

And their athleticism often is stifled by that stupid zone.