6. Texas-Rio Grande Valley 6-6 (Preseason rank 7)
The Vaqueros are a work in progress, but there’s plenty of potential for this season. Part of it is due to the constant switches in the starting lineup, due to injuries and other reasons. Only three guys have started all the games so far.
One of them is senior guard Nick Dixon, arguably the best player in the conference. He leads the WAC in scoring at 21.6 ppg. Dixon also has both the highest usage rate, as well as tops in player efficiency rating. He has attempted at least ten shots a game and recorded a career-high of 39 in a road win at Texas A&M Corpus Christy. After losing four in a row, the Vaqueros are currently riding a three-game winning streak.
5. Cal State Bakersfield 6-6 (Preseason rank 3)
The Roadrunners haven’t necessarily done anything on the court to drop in the rankings. They only lost by nine to UCLA and has a top 100 defensive unit.
The comes with the actual schedule. Half of the six wins Cal State Bakersfield comes outside of Division I basketball. It’s hard to tell how good this team really is, especially after losing so much talent from a year prior. This team may be a top 3 team in the conference, but rewarding a team for such weak scheduling doesn’t feel right.