Those football schools going to be competitive in basketball too? Will be interesting to see who fills that last spot.
Definitely all better at football. But still solid from a B-ball stand point.
The COC schools should be above .500 teams and be top half of the COC but still behind Nixa/Ozark etc..
Joplin(COC) has the best player in the field with the Wright kid, and good athletes around him. They won it last year and are probably favored.
Webb(COC) just reloads with talent/athletes every year, they will be deep again this year. And assuming the Washington kid is healthy, they will have the best athlete.
Carthage(COC) will miss the Pugh kid, but Templeman and Ray are a really good 1-2 guard duo, and they are obviously playing at home.
Nevada(Big8) Has won the tourney a couple times in recent years but were rebuilding last year 0-3, who knows if they will be back to competing this year or not. They are by far the smallest school in the field at class 4, with everyone else class 5-6/7Ark.
Ray-Pec(Suburban?) has the coaches son and his class that took their lumps as underclassmen but should be ready to step up and shine as Juniors/Seniors. Their style of play gives them a chance against anyone. Have been in the Title game 2 of last 3 years.
Don't know much about Leavenworth and Southside, Southside had a lot of speed last year but lacked size, there best player was a Junior. Leavenworth had a couple really good players but lacked depth their athletic big kid was a Sr. But their shooter was a Jr. They are large class schools that should have athletes regardless.
Whoever ends up filling the 8th spot will get 3 good games for their kids, a great venue for fans, first class hospitality for players, coaches and media. Should be fun to see who stands out from this early season Tourney.
