NCAA Basketball: Top 10 teams not likely to make it back to the NCAA Tournament

Every season there are NCAA Basketball teams who make the Big Dance, then miss it all together next time around. Here are the 10 likeliest candidates.

The NCAA Tournament has 32 automatic qualifiers from each respective conference, as well as 36 at-large teams. We know that there will be a number of teams who made the Big Dance from this past season that won’t repeat. So this upcoming list features the top-10 programs that will take the biggest step back in 2019.

*Those who qualify for this are the ones who were or would have been at-large teams in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

10. Ohio State Buckeyes

2017-18 season record and seed: 25-9 (15-3) – No. 5 seed

The Buckeyes were a huge surprise this past season, taking advantage of a down Big Ten Conference to be the third best team, securing a good seed in the Big Dance. They were led by the Big Ten Player of the Year in Keita Bates-Diop, whose rise to greatness was an unexpected development.

However, he’s decided to go pro this off-season, meaning that three of Ohio State’s top three scorers will be gone. Considering that many other teams in the Big Ten will be getting better, the Buckeyes will have a much harder time getting back to the tournament.

9. Texas A&M Aggies

2017-18 season record and seed: 22-13 (9-9) – No. 7 seed

In a season full of ups and downs, the Aggies did make it in after all. They will lose quite a few players from their main rotation, including Robert Williams, and DJ Hogg. Their spot on this list would rise even further depending on what Tyler Davis and Admon Gilder decide to do with the NBA Draft.

But this could be addition by subtraction in the case of Texas A&M, as chemistry issues were the primary reason for the inconsistencies with the team. With a now tough SEC, distractions will need to be kept to a minimum.