Creighton has been tabbed to win the 2006 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer crown, in a vote conducted by league coaches.  The Bluejays received 48 out of a possible 49 points in the poll to outdistance Missouri State, which is picked for a second-place finish.

The Bluejays are seeking a 15th-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and return nine players with starting experience from last year's team, which was 15-5-3 and was ranked No. 6 in the final 2005 NSCAA/adidas top-25 poll.  The league's defending tournament champion from last year, Creighton begins its 2006 regular season against perennial power Indiana on Friday, Aug. 25, at the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at Notre Dame.  Missouri State is picked second in this year's pre-season poll as the Bears are coming off a 12-4-2 campaign, including a fifth-place finish in the regular-season race.  A co-offensive Missouri Valley Conference MVP last year, Ryan Anderson leads the Bears after scoring 15 goals, with 33 total points, a year ago.  MSU returns 13 letterwinners, including six starters, for coach Jon Leamy:

*includes players with at least 14 starts in 2005

Defending MVC regular-season champion and NCAA tournament participant Bradley lost a lot with last year's graduating class as 13 letterwinners are gone from last year's 15-6-1 club.  Four starters are back, however, including Teddy Anderson and Zach Bell, and the Braves are tabbed for a third-place showing, narrowly edging Drake in the poll.   Like Bradley, Drake lost a lot of players after the 2005 season, including co-MVP Jesse Baker and all of its top four scorers.  Eastern Illinois and Evansville are knotted for fifth in the pre-season predictions, each with 18 points, and Western Kentucky is tabbed for seventh with 13 points.

In conjuction with the pre-season poll, the coaches also voted for a pre-season team, and the 11-player first-team unit is below.  The top four team selections in the pre-season poll dominate the pre-season squad, as all 11 players come from those four schools.  Creighton (5) and Missouri State (3) have eight of the 11 picks.