Empire 8

[maxpower]

This just came out over the wire:


ITHACA PICKED FOURTH IN EMPIRE 8 PRESEASON POLL

The Bombers were picked fourth in the Empire 8 preseason poll, as voted
on by the league's men's basketball coaches.

1. Utica (five), 47 points
2. St. John Fisher (three), 44
3. Nazareth, 34
4. ITHACA, 33
5. Rochester Institute of Technology, 25
6. Hartwick, 18
7. Alfred, 14
8. Elmira, 11


Looks like the coaches think Ithaca has half a chance at a 3 seed in the tourney....

[JQV]

This just came out over the wire:


ITHACA PICKED FOURTH IN EMPIRE 8 PRESEASON POLL

The Bombers were picked fourth in the Empire 8 preseason poll, as voted
on by the league's men's basketball coaches.

1. Utica (five), 47 points
2. St. John Fisher (three), 44
3. Nazareth, 34
4. ITHACA, 33
5. Rochester Institute of Technology, 25
6. Hartwick, 18
7. Alfred, 14
8. Elmira, 11


Looks like the coaches think Ithaca has half a chance at a 3 seed in the tourney....

Will UC be good enough that a 4 seed in the tournament means as little as it meant in previous years (when we got wiped out by Fisher)?  Or, will there be some pretty good parity in the league?

[FisherDynasty]

Definately alot of Parity, as of right now the league is up for grabs.  Come E8 tourny time, it will be who is hot that weekend.  Then again, expect fisher who is young this year to be much better at the end of the year, so this year should be interesting.

[JQV]

Definately alot of Parity, as of right now the league is up for grabs.  Come E8 tourny time, it will be who is hot that weekend.  Then again, expect fisher who is young this year to be much better at the end of the year, so this year should be interesting.

The problem with young teams is, even though they are much better near the end, they get into such a hole early that it is too late.  Especially with the E8 format of only half the teams qualifying.  Are the bottom 4 bad enough that it won't keep a team that struggles early out?  (I think IC has at least some youth issues losing three seniors).

[FisherDynasty]

Agreed jose,  especially if they do make it, being a more veteran team in a big game is a lot tougher for a younger team.  However, the E8 is a very weak conference, and although fisher is inexperienced at the guard spots, I can and probably will be as good if not better then any team in the conference.  So, more likely then not they will be in the final 4 teams that make the E8 tourny, I see them at most losing 4 games in the league.  However, if/when they make it, we'll see how they do in the e8 tourny, I'm am unsure if the E8 will get 2 teams in the NCAA tournament this year.

[gobombers15]

This just came out over the wire:


ITHACA PICKED FOURTH IN EMPIRE 8 PRESEASON POLL

The Bombers were picked fourth in the Empire 8 preseason poll, as voted
on by the league's men's basketball coaches.

1. Utica (five), 47 points
2. St. John Fisher (three), 44
3. Nazareth, 34
4. ITHACA, 33
5. Rochester Institute of Technology, 25
6. Hartwick, 18
7. Alfred, 14
8. Elmira, 11


Looks like the coaches think Ithaca has half a chance at a 3 seed in the tourney....

Will UC be good enough that a 4 seed in the tournament means as little as it meant in previous years (when we got wiped out by Fisher)?  Or, will there be some pretty good parity in the league?

The 4-seed was not irrelevant last year as RIT had Fisher on the ropes for much of that game but just couldn't make the plays at the end.

I can speak to Jose's point about talent quitting at Ithaca. Although for different reasons than Jose outlined, both Sean Clifford and Nate Newton quite early on in their careers. Both would have been tremendous players in their Junior and Senior years. I was pretty good friends with Nate and he would have been a force.  The guy passed very well for a big guy, had refined post moves and could step out and hit a 3-pointer at a good clip. It's too bad that those guys didn't stick with it.

This just came out over the wire:


ITHACA PICKED FOURTH IN EMPIRE 8 PRESEASON POLL

The Bombers were picked fourth in the Empire 8 preseason poll, as voted
on by the league’s men’s basketball coaches.

1. Utica (five), 47 points
2. St. John Fisher (three), 44
3. Nazareth, 34
4. ITHACA, 33
5. Rochester Institute of Technology, 25
6. Hartwick, 18
7. Alfred, 14
8. Elmira, 11


Looks like the coaches think Ithaca has half a chance at a 3 seed in the tourney....

Looks about right. As I've said before, Utica and Fisher are the consensus top two teams. In the next tier, in no particular order, you have Ithaca/RIT/Naz. I think Hartwick and Alfred have about the same amount of talent and Elmira is definitely the worst team in the league.

I have heard from people around the basketball program that Sean Burton is going to make the leap this season. I mentioned several times last year that he could have put up the numbers that Cocozziello was putting up had he been in a similar situation. I feel like the Bombers are in good hands over the next three years.

[JQV]

GB15 message

[maxpower]

I'll be at the UR-IC game tomorrow... anyone else? Is there a UAA board?

[Caz Bombers]

UAA board is in Multi-Regional Topics...unlikely that I'll be seeing IC or any E8 team in person this year, might try to catch a New Paltz home game when some of the better SUNYAC teams come through.

[UCgrad45]

After last season, I can't remember being so excited about the start of a new one.

[empire8zone]

Welcome to a new season everyone! Looks like everyone is pumped for the start of the season.

I have been so pumped that I have created an Empire 8 blog for all of your enjoyment throughout the season:

It can be found at: http://www.empire8zone.com and on Facebook: Group; Empire 8 Zone.

I have made predictions for the various games tonight and tomorrow!

Enjoy!

[fisheralum91]

Has anybody mentioned that UC's Bryant could miss the season pending his penalty for soliciting a prostitute?

[maxpower]

Has anybody mentioned that UC's Bryant could miss the season pending his penalty for soliciting a prostitute?

Uhhhh, not that I know of.

Link?


BTW- FA91- whos your team in Bball? Alum pride or proximity pride?

[UCgrad45]

Has anybody mentioned that UC's Bryant could miss the season pending his penalty for soliciting a prostitute?

No, and unless it happened in the last 5 days I find it very hard to believe.

I did however, hear about a lot of the Fisher players who got in a big brawl, one got his nose broke, this summer. They were picked up by the police and left in a parking lot to settle it with no charges against them. My friend called me as it was happening in the background.

[fisheralum91]

http://www.uticaod.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/SPORTS/611170315/1030

hate to say it UC grad----but you may want to read this!!!