The 2022 MVC preseason poll is out. See where Bradley men's basketball was ranked
PEORIA — The Bradley Braves matched their highest Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll ranking under coach Brian Wardle, drawing the No. 2 spot Wednesday in voting by coaches, sports information directors and media.
Drake was a near-unanimous No. 1 pick, landing the top spot on 54 of 56 ballots and finishing as the preseason favorite for the second consecutive year. Bradley and Southern Illinois earned the other two first-place votes.
The Braves will host Drake in a Feb. 26 regular-season finale in what could be a battle for the MVC title.
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Bradley was previously ranked this high in the Valley preseason poll ahead of the 2019-20 season, when the Braves were coming off an MVC Tournament title and trip to the NCAA Tournament. BU was picked sixth last season and third the season before.
Bradley's lone player on the three preseason all-Valley teams was junior center Rienk Mast, who landed on the first team. Mast was one of two underclassmen in the Valley last season to earn all-league honors, earning a third-team berth after leading the conference in rebounding at 8.4 per game.
Four Drake players earned spots on the Valley's three preseason all-conference teams. Drake guard-forward Tucker DeVries was named preseason MVC Player of the Year.
Southern Illinois, which polled at No. 3, put two players on the all-Valley list, with Marcus Domask on the first team and Lance Jones on the second team.
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Since the poll began in the 1985-86 season, 21 of the 31 projected Valley champions have reached the NCAA Tournament. The poll has successfully predicted the regular-season conference champion in six of the last 10 seasons.
The 2022-23 Valley lineup includes five league teams that participated in postseason play a year ago: Belmont (NIT); Drake (CBI); Missouri State (NIT); Murray State (NCAA); and UNI (NIT).
Missouri State, Northern Iowa, newcomers Belmont, Murray State and UIC, and Illinois State and Evansville are among the Valley teams with some rebuilding to do, each having lost four starters from 2021-22.
2022-23 MVC men's preseason poll
Drake (52) 646
Bradley (1) 542
Southern Illinois (1) 537
Missouri State 418
UNI 416
Belmont 388
Indiana State 344
Murray State 324
Valparaiso 234
Illinois State 186
UIC 109
Evansville 68
2022-23 preseason all-MVC teams
First team — Tucker DeVries, Drake (MVP); Marcus Domask, Southern Illinois; Ben Krikke, Valparaiso; Rienk Mast, Bradley; Roman; Penn, Drake; Ben Sheppard, Belmont.
Second team — Bowen Born, UNI; Donovan Clay, Missouri State; Lance Jones, Southern Illinois; Cooper Neese, Indiana State; Garrett Sturtz, Drake.
Third team — Cameron Henry, Indiana State; Kobe King, Valparaiso; Rob Perry, Murray State; Austin Phyfe, UNI; D.J. Wilkins, Drake.
Bravely Speaking
In Wardle's first four seasons, BU was picked 10th (2015-16), 8th (16-17), 7th (17-18) and 4th (18-19) in the Valley preseason polls. ... The Bradley women's basketball team was voted 11th in the MVC women's preseason poll. Conference newcomer Belmont was No. 1, followed by Illinois State at No. 2 and Drake at No. 3. … Former Bradley men's basketball team manager Cody Roskens is the new men's team sports information director. He graduated from BU with a degree in sports communication and has worked as a play-by-play, color commentator and statistician for Clutch Sports Media broadcasts.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: MVC preseason poll: Bradley basketball ranked No. 2 in Valley
