Busting Brackets
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SoCon Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2019-20 season

By Logan Butts

CHAPEL HILL, NC - DECEMBER 20: Players of the Wofford Terriers celebrate following their win against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Dean Smith Center on December 20, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Wofford won 79-75. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - DECEMBER 20: Players of the Wofford Terriers celebrate following their win against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Dean Smith Center on December 20, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Wofford won 79-75. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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BOISE, ID – MARCH 15: Head coach Wes Miller of the UNC-Greensboro Spartans reacts in the first half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID – MARCH 15: Head coach Wes Miller of the UNC-Greensboro Spartans reacts in the first half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

SoCon Basketball had one of the strongest seasons for a mid-major league in recent memory last season. How will 2019-20 stack up?

Last season, SoCon Basketball fielded one of the strongest collection of teams that a true mid-major league has had this century.

The SoCon, like mid-major leagues across the country, greatly benefitted from the newly introduced NET rankings, which gave non-Power 5 teams a legit fair shake that RPI often times didn’t.

The conference finished with four teams in the NET’s final top-100 standings: Wofford at 14, Furman at 58, UNC Greensboro at 68, and ETSU at 90. The only non-Power 5 conferences with more were the Big East, the AAC, and WCC (also a very strong year for the West Coast Conference).

Related Story. Top SoCon players for 2019-20 season. light

Wofford made the second round of the NCAA Tournament (and were one Fletcher Magee cold streak from pulling off the massive upset over Kentucky). UNCG and Furman had legitimate advocates in the March Madness bubble discussion.

Wofford won’t be nearly as strong after losing star Magee and his partner-in-crime (and vastly underrated) Cameron Jackson, but it’s hard to ask a team to repeat a once-in-a-program’s existence type of season.

ETSU, UNCG, and Furman all lost important players, but return a number of key contributors from their top-four squads. Samford has the talent to challenge for a top-four slot, or at least to make those teams sweat.

The SoCon may not be able to quite reach last season’s top-tier heights, but this is still a very good league. Let’s take a look at this year’s squads.