High returns yield high expectations.
This season, Creighton basketball was chosen to win the Missouri Valley Conference. The poll results were announced on Oct. 28, with Southern Illinois and Illinois State in the second and third spots, respectively.
Creighton received 36 of the 39 first-place votes, earning 386 of a maximum 390 points in the preseason poll. SIU trailed Creighton with two first place votes and 322 total points. The poll is the result of votes cast by league coaches, sports information directors, writers and play-by-play men.
“The Valley polls have been wrong more than 50 percent of the time, so it doesn’t mean that much,” senior guard Josh Dotzler said. “We have a very tough league.”
Since the poll started in the 1985-86 season, it has been accurate only 10 times out of 24.
On the brighter side, 21 of the 24 predicted to win the MVC made it to the playoffs, and 15 went on to compete in the NCAA tournament.
“We hope we can change the trend,” head coach Dana Altman said. “They [the MVC] usually makes the picks based on who has the most returning players. This particular year we have the most players back, so we’re favored.”
Seven of the 10 players who averaged double-digit minutes last season have returned for the Jays. Among those returning are three-year starter Dotzler, who was in the league’s top 10 in both steals and assists, and P’Allen Stinnett, who led the team with 12.6 points per game.
For Creighton, this season’s top pick is a league high seventh received since the poll began. The previous six times, Creighton won the title twice (1990-91 and 2000-01) and finished in second place the other four times, including the 2006-07 season. It is also the team’s second time to receive the top pick in the last three years.
“All three years we’ve had a pretty good team,” Dotzler said. “This year is as good as any in the past.”
With the top seed, the Jays now have a target on their backs. “We know teams are gonna be gunning for us,” sophomore forward Casey Harriman said. “It makes us practice harder. We know we can do it, we just have to practice hard and follow through.”
However, the Jays aren’t going to let the polls affect their play or their practices.
“It doesn’t change anything,” senior guard Booker Woodfox said. “We still need to play like CU can.”
The Jays have already shown they mean business this season, winning their only exhibition game 78-65 over Central Missouri. The Jays never trailed in the game, and shot 45.9 percent with four Jays hitting double figures.
“I’m not concerned with being No. 1,” junior guard Cavel Witter said. “We control our own destiny, so either we blow it or succeed.”
The Jays own two more league records for having won 20 or more games in the past 10 seasons and for having appeared in 11 consecutivepost-season tournaments. With their top ranking, they are looking to increase both of those records by one at the end of this season.