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[sheg]

Thank you, 62. On the contrary, SDF, my glad is quite full. However, from an outsider perspective, everything I wrote there is true. I personally think the Flyers compete for a bye in the conference tournament this year.

I was just trying to proactively prevent hurt feelings around here when the Flyers aren't ranked.

Edit to add: if UD IS in this ranking, I will be impressed with the rankers' ability to see past the superficial negatives and see the real improvements in the program in the last 17 months.

Look, to an outsider, losing XWilliams (a starter at the beginning of the year and most of his sophomore season) might seem like a negative, while we rightfully believe it's addition by subtraction.

To an outsider, losing senior Darrell Davis, virtually tied for leading scorer, might be a negative. Yet we all watched him mentally check out of games he was racking up 35 minutes in. The team even often played better down the stretch when he was on the bench.

To an outsider, losing Kostas to the draft may seem like a negative. And while his raw talent is undeniable, I'm not sure what his place would have been on this upcoming team.

An outsider might see the transfers of three bench players as a negative, while we know they contributed virtually nothing to the team on game days.

It would be awfully hard to take last year's 14-17 9th place debacle, consider the above negatives, and predict a significantly better finish this year, unless you really know the team well.

We all do, and I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb to say I think most here would agree with "compete for a bye in the conference," which will mean a finish in the 3rd-6th range. If the newcomers (Toppin, Matos, Cohill, Pollicelli, and Mikesell*) contribute more than hoped, and Crutcher, Davis, Landers, and Cunningham continue to grow, this could be a very fun year indeed.

*Putting Mikesell here because he's basically new to the staff, and really hasn't played significant minutes with any of his teammates.