The Missouri Western men’s basketball team was tabbed 11th in the MIAA preseason coaches poll and 12th in the media poll which was announced today, Wednesday, October 23, 2013 by the league office.
Missouri Western received 54 points in the coaches poll trailing Fort Hays State with 153, Northwest Missouri with 149, Central Missouri with 129, Northeastern State 127, Central Oklahoma 113, Missouri Southern 104, Washburn 101, Pittsburg State 93, Emporia State 83 and Lindenwood with 81. The Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State received six first place votes while Fort Hays State had five. Northeastern State, Central Oklahoma and Missouri Southern all collected one. Southwest Baptist, Nebraska-Kearney and Lincoln rounded out the poll with 46, 26 and 15 points respectively.
In the media poll, the Griffons were picked 12th with 102 points. Fort Hays State came in first with 353 points and 13 first place votes while Northwest Missouri State was second with 330 points and nine first place votes. Central Missouri came in third with 301 points and two first place votes while Northeastern State had 296 points and one first place vote in fourth. Washburn was fifth with 265 points and one first place vote, Central Oklahoma was sixth with 234 points, Pittsburg State had 204 points coming in 7th, Lindenwood came in 8th with 195 points, Missouri Southern received one first place vote with 194 points coming in 9th while Emporia State and Southwest Baptist came in 10th and 11th with 164 and 103 points respectively. Nebraska-Kearney and Lincoln rounded out the poll with 64 and 30 points respectively.
Missouri Western is coming off a 10-17 season and went 6-12 in MIAA play making it into the MIAA Tournament. The Griffons will be under first year head coach Brett Weiberg as he replaces long time Griffon coach Tom Smith. The Griffons return four letterman and three starters from a season ago who include Adarius Fulton, Cedric Clinkscales, Kalvin Balque and Dzenan Mrkaljevic. Weiberg and his staff also brought in a hand full of freshman and transfer student-athletes to round out the squad.
The Griffons open up their season with an exhibition contest against Livin the Dream on Tuesday, November 5 in St. Joseph, Mo. Game time is set for 7:30 pm. The Griffons will open up regular season play on Saturday, November 9 when they travel to Sioux Falls, SD to take part in the Sanford Pentagon Basketball Showcase. Missouri Western will take on host school Augustana at 6:00 pm.
2013-14 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Fort Hays State (5) 153
2. Northwest Missouri (6) 149
3. Central Missouri 129
4. Northeastern State (1) 127
5. Central Oklahoma (1) 113
6. Missouri Southern (1) 104
7. Washburn 101
8. Pittsburg State 93
9. Emporia State 83
10. Lindenwood 81
11. Missouri Western 54
12. Southwest Baptist 46
13. Nebraska-Kearney 26
14. Lincoln 15
2013-14 MIAA Preseason Media Poll
1. Fort Hays State (13) 353
2. Northwest Missouri (9) 330
3. Central Missouri (2) 301
4. Northeastern State (1) 296
5. Washburn (1) 265
6. Central Oklahoma 234
7. Pittsburg State 204
8. Lindenwood 195
9. Missouri Southern (1) 194
10. Emporia State 164
11. Southwest Baptist 103
12. Missouri Western 102
13. Nebraska-Kearney 64
14. Lincoln 30
— MWSU Sports Information —