Valpo tabbed 10th in MVC Media Poll

MBB: All three Indiana schools projected to finish at bottom of the league

When the Missouri Valley Conference released its annual preseason men’s basketball poll this year, the conference made the decision to release just the top five teams, leaving a question as to where a team like Valparaiso would be projected.

The Valley also put an end to releasing preseason All-League selections, choosing instead to release a “Players to Watch” list that featured as many as six players for one team and as few as two for other teams.

Isaiah Barnes, Mark Brown Jr., Justus McNair and Owen Dease were all listed from Valparaiso. Whether or not any of those players would make a Preseason All-League team was left up in the air.

With that in mind, media members covering the league banded together to vote in a preseason poll that included all 11 teams as well as All-League First and Second teams.

The Beacons were picked 10th, sandwiched between Indiana State and Evansville among the bottom three teams in the league. No Valparaiso players were selected for the All-League teams.

Illinois State, led by preseason Player of the Year Chase Walker and fellow First-Teamer Johnny Kinziger were the runaway pick for the projected champion.

---

2025-26 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Media Poll
(First place votes in parenthesis)
1. Illinois State, 210 (14)
2. Northern Iowa, 181 (1)
3. Bradley, 167 (2)
4. Murray State, 164 (2)
5. Belmont, 148
6. Drake, 129 (1)
7. Southern Illinois, 89
8. UIC, 80
9. Indiana State, 66
10. Valparaiso, 44
11. Evansville, 41

Preseason First Team
Player of the Year: Chase Walker, Illinois State
Johnny Kinziger, Illinois State
Tyler Lundblade, Belmont
Trey Campbell, Northern Iowa
Jaquan Johnson, Bradley

Preseason Second Team
Connor Turnbull, Evansville
Fred King, Murray State
Isaiah Stafford, Southern Illinois
Ahmad Henderson, UIC
Demarion Burch, Bradley

---

Inside the poll

The Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Media Poll was voted on by a group of journalists covering the league on a variety of platforms, including both professional and student media publications. Every effort was made to include at least two journalists representing each school.

Teams were voted on using an 11-1 scale with 11 points being assigned to the projected champion and one point being assigned to the projected last place team. Players were voted on using a 10-1 scale with 10 points being assigned to the Preseason Player of the Year and one point being assigned to the 10th-best player in the league. There were no restrictions as to where voters could place teams or players.

The following are the members that comprise the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Media Poll: Michael Admire (Drake Radio), Jeff Bidwell (RacerBasketball), Jaden Cohn (The Vidette), Dave Eminian (Peoria Journal Star), Laney Evans (Murray State News), Derek Harper (Tribune Star), Jonathan Hood (UIC Radio), Eli Hoover (Daily Egyptian), Cohen Kamus (Northern Iowan), Reece Leddy (Belmont Vision), Latif Love (The Bradley Scout), Luke Martin (SIU Radio), Paul Oren (The Victory Bell), Randy Reinhart (The Pantagraph), Vance Sawyer (March to the Arch), Harry Schroeder (Valley Hoops Insider), Kyle Sokeland (The Courier & Press), Joe Sullivan (Main Street Nashville), Serena Thiede (Times Delphic), Mara Thomas (The Torch).

---

Inside the votes

• Five different schools were picked to finish first in the league, including Illinois State (14), Bradley (2), Murray State (2), Northern Iowa (1) and Drake (1).

• Three different schools were picked to finish last in the league, including Evansville (8), Valparaiso (7) and Indiana State (5).

• Preseason favorite Illinois State was picked to finish first or second in every poll except one. In that poll, the Redbirds were picked to finish sixth.

• There were 20 ballots cast for projected order of finish and 18 ballots cast for All-League selections.

• There were 32 players that received votes for All-League selections.

• Preseason Player of the Year Chase Walker (Illinois State) was the only player voted for in every single poll. First-Team selections Trey Campbell (Northern Iowa) and Tyler Lundblade (Belmont) were each left off of one preseason ballot while Johnny Kinzinger (Illinois State) was left off two and Jaquan Johnson (Bradley) was left off four.

• Layne Taylor (Murray State) was voted as the Preseason Player of the Year on one ballot, but was left off of 13 other ballots. Taylor finished one point shy of making the Second Team.

(Photo courtesy of Valpo Athletics)