Red Towel Roundtable: The New Athletic Year Is Here. Here Are Our Boldest Predictions.
July 1 marks the start of the new league year for conferences across the country, including CUSA. Let’s predict how WKU’s year will go.
The halfway point of the long collegiate athletics offseason is officially upon us, as July 1 is here and, with it, starts the new conference year for intercollegiate athletics leagues all across the nation.
CUSA, as usual, is not immune to change on the first of July, with Kennesaw State an official league member as of today, bringing the conference back to an even number of teams across most sports (looking at you, baseball and DBU).
As we start the new league year, let’s look deep into the crystal ball for what the year will bring and offer up our best predictions for the upcoming year as it relates to the Hilltoppers.
Fletcher Keel: Marc Rardin leads Tops to title game, leaves Hill in better place than he found it
I don’t like to think it, yet alone say it, but the writing is on the wall: Marc Rardin is not long for WKU Baseball’s world. He’s done a heckuva job in his first two years at the helm of the program, turning the team relevant again for the first time since the late 2000s, already turning heads at the power level.
According to D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers, Rardin was among the finalists for the open job at Ohio State (whose new athletic director is former WKU AD Ross Bork) this past offseason and that isn’t going to be the last look he gets.
Luckily for WKU fans, he won’t bolt just yet. After overseeing a strong second half in 2023 and a blazing start in 2024, 2025 will see the year Rardin puts everything together and puts the Tops in the thick of CUSA’s upper echelon of baseball programs.
Ultimately, it will lead to a top-two regular season finish and a trip to CUSA’s title game, where they’ll see a memorable season fall just shy of a miraculous one.
Then, Rardin will say goodbye for a power program, leaving the WKU baseball program in a much, much better place than he found it.
Matt McCay: 2 teams make Sweet 16; Baseball posts historic season
Two WKU programs make the Sweet 16. I’m not committing to which two programs make it, but volleyball is a legitimate threat every year and is a near shoe-in for the Round of 32. Then there’s baseball, which is making massive strides, men’s basketball (obviously planning on making an NCAA Tournament run), and softball that all could do it. I don’t see women’s basketball doing it, and football doesn’t have a system that can put them in, but shoot, if they make the 12 team playoff, obviously that counts, too.
I have options, but this is a historically crazy prediction. The last time this happened in two sports was 1993, when men’s and women’s basketball both made the Sweet 16. That was actually the ONLY time in WKU history that two teams did that in the same year.
If you want a sport specific one: WKU baseball makes the NCAA Tournament and wins at least one game. They might win more, but I feel like Marc Rardin and crew put it together and have one of the best seasons in WKU history.
Alex Sherfield: Men’s basketball will repeat as CUSA champions under Hank Plona
This may sound like a huuggeeee stretch of an early season prediction, but it’s the closest to a reality-based outcome. Even with the departure of Steve Lutz moving on to Oklahoma State, the Tops have made the most of the transition to new head coach Hank Plona, who already had a solid footing from his first season as an assistant during the 2023-2024 campaign.
Announced on April 2, the hire was a no-brainer to those who follow the Hilltoppers’ basketball program closely. Plona has been widely credited for integral matchups and assembling a great bench system that came in clutch during some critical WKU victories, including the conference tournament in Huntsville. His contributions behind the scenes garnered enough attention to consider the Tops to have a repeat of the same success for seasons to come, including his first one on The Hill.
Leading the charge with Don McHenry & Enoch Kalambay (also former players of Plona during the Indian Hills CC years) has also managed to keep 75% of last year’s roster in Bowling Green while nabbing five signees which includes a handful of transfers & high school scholarships. This is reassuring as we begin a new era of a coaching tenure that looks to be backed up by hard work, talent, and promise.
Jake Gary: WKU in a new conference
Bold prediction: WKU is in a new conference by the end of 2025. As bold as it can get here and my only source is the encrypted messages in my dreams.
Devin Stewart: Football wins CUSA championship
Have I lost my ever loving mind? Pretty much, but WKU either has a young sophomore QB with one game’s experience or a transfer QB in a brand new offense and lost some key pieces on both sides of the ball.
All of my objections are very true but WKU has some really exciting new guys coming in. Plus the guys they’ve kept are gonna go crazy this year.
What bold predictions for the upcoming Hilltoppers year do you have? Let us know in a comment or over on our social media platforms.