NCAA Basketball: 10 teams that will exceed expectations in 2019-20

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 30: Mamadi Diakite #25 of the Virginia Cavaliers reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers during overtime of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at KFC YUM! Center on March 30, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

4 of 11

SAN JOSE, CA – MARCH 22: UC Irvine guard Evan Leonard (14) celebrates after Kansas State throws the ball away late in the second half of the game between the Kansas State Wildcats and the UC Irvine Anteaters in their NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship first round game on March 22, 2019, at SAP Center at San Jose in San Jose, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

UC Irvine Anteaters

2018-19 Record: 31-6

UC Irvine dominated the Big West Last year, finishing the regular season at 30-5, then upsetting Kansas State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The truth is, UC Irvine has now lost plenty of backcourt depth from last year’s team due to the graduation of a few key guards and Max Hazzard headed for Arizona as a graduate transfer.

Fortunately, they do not need to worry too much. They still have fantastic guards in Evan Leonard and Eyassu Worku, who averaged 11.3 and 7.0 ppg respectively last season. Where the backcourt may have lost a lot of depth, the frontcourt is certainly capable of picking up the slack. Collin Welp and Tommy Rutherford gave Big West opponents trouble in the paint all last season, and they will do the same this season.

When I assess the rest of the Big West, I still feel that UC Irvine is the team to beat. Nobody else in the conference has shown anything that can convince me that it is not the Anteaters league for the taking. With that said, I believe they will run through the conference once again, and grab an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Home/NCAA Basketball News