Thumbnail Preview -- Stetson

Last Year: 16-16 overall, 11-5 in conference, good for third place. Lost to Gardner-Webb in the tournament quarterfinals.

Losses: Just one -- role player J. J. Hirst. Last year, Hirst was one of nine Hatters to average more than 12 minutes per game.

Key Returners: Everybody else. And I do mean everybody. Stetson will start two seniors (Garfield Blair and Tim Lang) and three juniors (A. J. Smith, Sheldon Oliver, and Mark Louhuis). They also have two seniors (Eric Diaz and Kris Thomas) and a junior (Brandon Williams) who saw significant minutes last year.

Show Me Numbers: If any team in the A-Sun wins with defense, it's Stetson. Last year they held conference opponents under 28% from 3-point range, led the league in field goal defense, and were second in scoring defense. That said, what Stetson does well on defense will have to make up for some significant weaknesses on the offensive end. Stetson was at the bottom of the tournament-eligible teams last year in Points per possession, PEP, and PEG. Yet despite a relatively poor showing on the offensive end, they still went 11-5 in conference.

Quick Analysis: The big question for Stetson is whether their offense or defense will be closer to "average" this year. Typically, having experienced players means two things. 1) You do better in close games. 2) You play better defense, and for longer stretches. If Stetson comes into this year in good physical condition and puts the same level of effort into defending the basketball as they did last year, I suspect the offense will come around somewhat.

Stat Projection: Offensively, Stetson projects to have a 0.89 PEP and 60.18 PEG, both near the bottom of the conference. But Stetson is all about defense, so we'll see.