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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) /
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TULSA, OK – MARCH 17: Teammates Darius Graham #2 and J.T. Adenrele #13 of the UC Davis Aggies react after loosing to the Kansas Jayhawks 100-62 during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at BOK Center on March 17, 2017 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)
TULSA, OK – MARCH 17: Teammates Darius Graham #2 and J.T. Adenrele #13 of the UC Davis Aggies react after loosing to the Kansas Jayhawks 100-62 during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at BOK Center on March 17, 2017 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images) /

Big West

Biggest Surprise (Hawaii)

Things went pretty much as expected in the Big West, with UC Irvine winning the conference and even pulling off an upset win over Kansas State in the process. The Rainbow Warriors were picked to finish 6th in the league, but Eran Ganot led this team to an 18-13 mark, with a 9-7 mark in Big West play. This team lost their two best big men and scorers and still put together a solid season.

Ganot has brought stability to the program, and not just because of his NCAA Tournament win back in 2016. Despite some struggles on offense, he’s building a solid program in the west, which certainly isn’t an easy thing to do in the Big West. Next season might not be a big step up, as they’ll be replacing much of their scoring again.

Biggest Disappointment (UC Davis)

The season was a struggle for the Aggies, who were picked to finish third in the Big West and struggled to a sixth place finish. This team had a talented senior class that couldn’t build on a 22-win season, finishing just 11-20. Teams like San Francisco and UC Irvine blew out the Aggies despite an impressive season from senior guard TJ Shorts II.

The talented clearly wasn’t there and this team played really poor offense for most of the season. This wasn’t Jim Les’s worst season at UC Davis, but there were much bigger things expected from this team. Shorts and four other seniors will be gone and Les is looking at a big rebuild on his hands. Fortunately, winning in the Big West isn’t rocket science and he could have this team in the Tournament again very soon.

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