Busting Brackets
Fansided

NCAA Basketball: Every conference’s biggest surprise and disappointment for 2018-19

By Joey Loose

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrates the play against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrates the play against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 33
Next
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: DJ Laster #25 of the Gardner Webb Runnin Bulldogs reacts after a play in the first half against the Virginia Cavaliers during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: DJ Laster #25 of the Gardner Webb Runnin Bulldogs reacts after a play in the first half against the Virginia Cavaliers during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Big South

Biggest Surprise (Gardner-Webb)

The Runnin’ Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb were picked to finish 6th in the league; surprisingly they fared better than that. They won at Wake Forest and Georgia Tech and finished 4th in Big South play, winning all of their conference home games. They won on the road at Campbell and Radford, the top two seeds, to advance to the program’s first NCAA Tournament. Once there, they challenged eventual champion Virginia, leading by as much as 14 in the first half before fading late.

Tim Craft has built a consistent team and finally broke through to the Tournament. This team might be rebuilding next season, losing two of their three best players, but this is the kind of run that invigorates a program. Gardner-Webb isn’t about to become a power in this conference, but they really surprised the rest of their league with their play in March this year.

Biggest Disappointment (Hampton)

There weren’t any major disappointments in the Big South, but Hampton is the kind of team that could’ve done more with this season. They were picked to finish 3rd but ended the year in 8th place due to losing the tiebreakers with the other three teams tied at 9-7. They’ll lose three senior starters and could see leading scorer Jermaine Marrow depart as well.

But it’s not all bad for the Pirates, as they won three CIT games before falling to Marshall in the semifinals. It’s true that most of that team will be gone, but coach Edward Joyner hasn’t lost this team despite a disappointing season. This was the Pirates’ first year in the Big South so a few growing pains were expected against unfamiliar foes. Ratings-wise, this season was a step in the right direction, but it might be a few years before they can win their first Big South crown.

Home/NCAA Basketball News