MBB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Preseason coaches poll is out http://www.heartlandconf.org/sports/mbkb/2011-12/releases/10_26_preseason_poll

Transylvania (5) 86
Hanover (1)      78
Rose-Hulman      77
Manchester (2)   75
Defiance (1)     58
Anderson (1)     57
Bluffton         47
Franklin         42
Mt St Joseph     18
Earlham          12

[Darryl Nester]

FCGrizzliesDad beat me to this, but here is a table showing the poll and final standings for the past couple of seasons:

	2011-12	2010-11	2009-10
Team	Place / points (#1 votes)	Pick / Finish (record)	Pick / Finish (record)
Transylvania	1 / 86 (5)	4 / 4 (11-7)	1 / 4 (10-6)
Hanover	2 / 78 (1)	3 / 2 (14-4)	4 / 2 (12-4)
RHIT	3 / 77	7 / 5 (10-8)	7 / 8 (3-13)
Manchester	4 / 75 (2)	2 / 1 (15-3)	6 / 4 (10-6)
Defiance	5 / 58 (1)	6 / 6 (8-10)	2 / 3 (11-5)
Anderson	6 / 57 (1)	1 / 3 (13-5)	3 / 1 (13-3)
Franklin	8 / 42	5 / 8 (6-12)	5 / 6 (6-10)
Bluffton	7 / 47	8 / 6 (8-10)	8 / 9 (2-14)
MSJ	9 / 18	9 / 9 (5-13)	9 / 7 (5-11)
Earlham	10 / 12	10 / 10 (0-18)

[Darryl Nester]

In other preseason news ... AU, FC, and RHIT have not yet posted complete rosters, but here are the roster sizes for those that are up:

School	FY+SO+JR+SR	= Total
BU	8 + 8 + 3 + 5	= 24
DC	13 + 4 + 2 + 5	= 24
EC	7 + 3 + 2 + 5	= 17
HC	8 + 3 + 5 + 1	= 17
MC	7 + 2 + 4 + 4	= 17
MSJ	6 + 7 + 4 + 2	= 19
TU	4 + 3 + 9 + 2	= 18

AU, MSJ, and MC probably have the most significant losses to graduation (4 3, 4, and 5 seniors, respectively).  HC only had one graduate (Mitchell Meyer, 1st team all-HCAC), but also lost all-HCAC honorable mention freshman Grant Pangallo (10.7ppg).

[Darryl Nester]

Still no roster for RHIT, but AU and FC are up.  All rosters are now posted.  Here are the updated counts (including a few altered numbers due to the usual preseason attrition).

School	FY+SO+JR+SR	= Total
AU	7 + 6 + 2 + 2	= 17
BU	8 + 7 + 3 + 5	= 23
DC	13 + 3 + 2 + 5	= 23
EC	7 + 3 + 3 + 4	= 17
FC	11 + 6 + 1 + 4	= 22
HC	8 + 3 + 5 + 1	= 17
MC	7 + 2 + 4 + 4	= 17
MSJ	5 + 6 + 4 + 2	= 17
RHIT	4 + 8 + 4 + 4	= 20
TU	3 + 3 + 9 + 2	= 17

RHIT is typically one of the last schools to post a roster; until they do, I can only report that they have the potential for 14 returning players.

[zander]

Anybody seen any pre-season games?

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Haven't seen any but listened to the Franklin game at Butler. Four assists on 18 FG isn't good no matter who you play.

[zander]

Hanover had a nice opening game against Ohio Wesleyan winning 70-58. Go Panthers! Next game Saturday against Denison-playing on the road-

[dc_has_been]

Nice start with the Jackets opening up with a W against K-zoo.  Not look for them to be world beaters but I believe they will fare better than fifth when the season ends. 

[zander]

Panthers had a good weekend with two wins against Denison and Oberlin of Ohio. Good to get some road wins right at the start.

[BUBeaverFan]

Good weekend for the Beavers. Wins over Webster and Rust at the Webster Tourney. Overtime and triple overtime games.

[hopefan]

Good weekend for the Beavers. Wins over Webster and Rust at the Webster Tourney. Overtime and triple overtime games.

Could not have asked for two more entertaining games... you had to be there.....what makes D3hoops the best game in town......

[zander]

Wow! Hanover looked like they ate some bad turkey over break. Nothing going on Sunday against Ohio Northern- Next game, @Manchester on Sat.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

It's getting close to conference time. Does anyone appear like they can upset the preseason coaches rankings? It looks to me like Manchester is struggling and MSJ is not as bad as picked (but still not a contender).
Sadly, Franklin doesn't look like they'll be a surprise contender.

[dc_has_been]

The one thing I love about basketball is that it is so unpredictable.  Transy will be a hard team to overcome in conference action but anything can happen.  I think Hanover will be the most likely to upset the preseason poll.

[kyballr]

HCAC CONFERENCE SCHEDULE BEGINS
Nov. 30  
Anderson (Ind.)   @ Defiance   7:30 PM
Bluffton   @ Mt. St. Joseph   7:30 PM 

Dec. 3 
Rose-Hulman @  Defiance   3:00 PM 
Hanover  @ Manchester   3:00 PM
Earlham  @ Mt. St. Joseph   3:00 PM 
Anderson (Ind.)  @ Transylvania   4:00 PM 
Franklin   @ Bluffton   4:00 PM