[Ed Dantes]

Winthrop: The Eagles came within a bucket of beating Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament and that would not have been an upset. Craig Bradshaw is a big man who can shoot it and Torrell Martin is the best athlete in the Big South. Winthrop should be the best team in the conference -- again -- and all non-conference foes should prepare for a fight.

[Sly Fox]

Yawn ... Jay Bilas spends SO much time following the Big South that he brings tremendous insight.

You ought to see our HPU friend panfan01 flaming away over on WEF's board on this very topic.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Yawn ... Jay Bilas spends SO much time following the Big South that he brings tremendous insight.

You ought to see our HPU friend panfan01 flaming away over on WEF's board on this very topic.

HAHAHAHAHAHA I dont think i have ever read anything more true!!! Excuse Me Mr. Bilas, are u looking at a current Liberty Roster....

[Realist]

So you think Bilas was going to pick a team that won 7 games last year to win the Big South? I hate to be a Realist, but you can hype guys and hype guys, but until you actually win consistently, no one is going to pick you high. For a team that was one of the worst in D1 basketball last season, you guys are putting some pretty big pressure on your team. LU may have improved their talent, but Winthrop has a legit draft prospect in Bradshaw and possibly Martin, a team that returns everyone but one starter and played some of the best teams in the country tough and beat one in Marquette. If I were you, I'd hope for a good season, while tempering expectations after last year.

[Sly Fox]

Easy now, Realist. No one is saying the Eagles aren't the favorites to win the league. I was just cracking on the insight of a national guy who may have never seen a Big South game in his life offering up pearls of wisdom.

Now I might be able to argue the "best athlete" distinction but that would just be one man's opinion versus another.

At the same time, I believe will make some noise THIS year in the Big South. But Winthrop is undoubtedly the heavy favorite.

[jmdickens]

I am with realist...the names on the roster don't account for how they play on the floor.

[SuperJon]

Yawn ... Jay Bilas spends SO much time following the Big South that he brings tremendous insight.

You ought to see our HPU friend panfan01 flaming away over on WEF's board on this very topic.

HAHAHAHAHAHA I dont think i have ever read anything more true!!! Excuse Me Mr. Bilas, are u looking at a current Liberty Roster....

Even if he had, names on a roster don't mean jack crap. It's just like football, a team that wins barely any games and finishes in next to last place doesn't deserve any preseason credibility. It's all earned on the floor. A name on a piece of paper doesn't mean jack crap until they play on the floor. If anyone thinks that anyone other than Winthrop should be preseason #1 then they are complete idiots. I said the same thing about Coastal in football, and I'll say the same thing about LU in women's basketball. Just because we have a good recruiting class doesn't mean we're going to be great. People are talking about NCAA tournaments and crap like that. The team barely made the Big South tournament last year. It's one thing to have a good feeling about a team, but our buddy from WU's name says it all, you have to be a realist. Stop drinking the kool-aid and look at things objectively.

[ATrain]

But the kool-aid tastes so good

[SuperJon]

Yea, well so does crack but look where that gets you.

[ATrain]

I wouldn't know about crack SJ

[SuperJon]

And you think I would? It was a just an example.

[thesportscritic]

I guess that would apply with football too. we may be horrendus this year

[WWJFD]

Big deal that Winthrop has a NBA prospect and possibly another.... Last I checked Liberty has a prospect in Brew and possibly another in Blair. I am not saying LU will be pre season #1, but they will make it interesting.

[kel varson]

I wouldn't be suprised to see Liberty picked 3rd or 4th in the preseason polls. Nationally, the Big South is not followed closely. The Big South Coaches will probably put us 3 or 4 as well in the preseason Big South poll. Realistically, we shouldn't be picked above Winthrop regardless of all the talent that has been brought in.

Personally I think we have a legit shot at winning the league, but until the players are on the floor, its just speculation. Plus, it will take a long time for all the new faces to begin playing well together.

[Chris Lang]

Kel ... I wouldn't count on it. You aren't going to get much respect from the media after last year's awful showing, and the coaches will see far too many unknown factors. You have new talent, but no one has seen it, so no one has any clue how good it is.

LU will probably be picked sixth at best, maybe seventh.

[LUconn]

That's what I was thinking. From what I've noticed over the years a lot of the preseason voting and speculation around the BSC weighs heavily on what was done the previous year. Nobody ever goes out on a limb. They just deal with the knowns. And right now all they know is that we sucked last year.

[kel varson]

I guess I've been drinking too much Kool Aid today. Chris is probably right.

[panfan01]

Just for the LU faithful,the coaches at HPU know how much you have improved and believe that you will contend for the BS title.If your backcourt can play togeather and you get some quality post play.