10 mid-majors to watch for the 21-22 season--College Hoops Daily
Drake: Started from the bottom now we’re here! Murphy’s Law hit the Bulldogs last season, as multiple injuries to key players limited this team’s depth in late-February and March — it didn’t stop Drake. Despite limited personnel, Darian DeVries led this program to a banner season, highlighted by a 26-5 record and an NCAA Tournament win over Wichita State. The Bulldogs will miss lead guard Joseph Yesufu, who transferred to Kansas, but Omaha transfer Ayo Akinwole (13 points) should be ready to inherit the minutes that Yesufu left behind. ShanQuan Hemphill, Roman Penn, Tremell Murphy, and D.J. Wilkins all return as double figure scorers. The expectations are high in Des Moines.
Loyola Chicago: Porter Moser is now at Oklahoma and Cameron Krutwig’s college career is over, but it would still be very foolish to bet against the Ramblers. First-year head coach Drew Valentine — who was a longtime assistant under Moser — inherits a veteran team that returns seven players — Lucas Williamson, Braden Norris, Keith Clemons, Aher Uguak, Marquise Kennedy, Tate Hall, and Tom Welch — from last year’s Sweet 16 team. Valentine also adds two transfers — Ryan Schwieger (Princeton) and Chris Knights (Dartmouth) — from the Ivy League that figure to challenge for minutes. Loyola Chicago has a legitimate chance to again be one of the top non power conference teams in college basketball.
College basketball starts in 50 days, so here are 50 things to know about the 2021-22 season--CBS Sports
34. Three mid-major schools from traditional one-bid leagues with the best chances at winning a game or two in the NCAAs: Belmont, Loyola Chicago, Buffalo.
22. There were 60 coaching changes this offseason. I'm labeling seven of those as men who will make the 2022 NCAA Tournament in their new post. (I'm not counting Wichita State's Isaac Brown because he was promoted in March before making the '21 NCAA Tournament):
6. Drew Valentine, Loyola Chicago
17. College basketball's November and December has steadily gotten better, mostly, over the past decade. It's still not offering up enough top 40-level games in on-campus environments to satisfy me, but the neutral-site mini-tournament industry still offers a lot of good nonconference matchups. That in mind, here are two dozen nonconference tilts to know now. And this doesn't include the obvious/aforementioned Champions Classic doubleheader on Nov. 9 to kick off the season. Many of these games are likely to feature two ranked teams.
- Nov. 24: Michigan State vs. Loyola Chicago
16. Best eight-team MTE in 2021: Battle 4 Atlantis (Nov. 24-26). The quarterfinals are: Arizona State vs. Baylor, Auburn vs. UConn, Michigan State vs. Loyola Chicago, Syracuse vs. VCU.
Donovan LeBron Hunter commits to Missouri State men's basketball--Springfield News-Leader
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