NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 353 D-I programs for 2019-20 season

192. Illinois State Redbirds

The Redbirds lost two of the best players in the Valley last year in Milik Yarborough and Phil Fayne. Those two players accounted for 49% of the Redbirds scoring from a year ago. They are not going to be easy to replace. Illinois State does get some high scoring and highly skilled transfers to pair with budding star Zach Copeland. These players should help minimize the blow but may be a bottom half finish for the Redbirds.

191. UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros

The Vaqueros won 20 games last season for the first time since 2001-2002. The team did not score much last year, but they locked in on the defensive end. Rio Grande Valley had a winning record in the conference for the first time in school history last season. Expect a little regression but should still finish in the middle of the league.

190. South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Mike Daum and David Jenkins Jr. scored 45 points between the two of them a season ago, they are not on campus anymore. The Jackrabbits had the fifth highest-scoring offense in the NCAA a season ago. Jenkins Jr. followed his coach TJ Otzelberger to San Diego State. It’s hard to fathom that South Dakota State recovers from those losses quickly. Anytime a team loses a player the caliber of Daum, who was one of the best players to play the game over the last four years, it is going to struggle the next season.

189. Northern Iowa Panthers

Ben Jacobson has had tremendous success as the coach of the Panthers. They were one of the premier teams in the Missouri Valley Conference up until the last three seasons. Over the last three years, the Panthers have experienced a slight rebuild that looks to continue into this season.  Jacobson is trying to build the program back up and he some pieces to work with especially AJ Green and Tywhon Pickford.

188. Delaware Blue Hens

A season ago, the Blue Hens experienced their best season under current head coach Martin Inglesby. Heading into this year Delaware returns their leading scorer Ryan Allen and adds two transfers that will help with the overall depth for the Blue Hens. The Blue Hens will have enough firepower to finish in the top four of the Colonial.

187. George Mason Patriots

The Patriots were a trendy pick to win the Atlantic 10 last season, that didn’t happen and last year by many Atlantic 10 fans was considered a largely disappointing year for not only George Mason but the rest of the conference. The Patriots do return their star Justin Kier as well as a good majority of their roster from a season ago. Will they play well enough to rise in a loaded Atlantic 10 conference?

186. UCF Knights

UCF was a missed layup away from a cinderella run through March a season ago. 7’6” Tacko Fall, guard BJ Taylor, and guard Aubrey Dawkins are no longer on campus in Orlando. Those were the catalysts of the run. What the Knights are left with is a group of inexperienced players and transfers who have not played much together. The Knights can’t be expected to repeat last season’s success.

185. Albany Great Danes

How can a team that only won 12 games a year ago be ranked this high? They had a young team, with only two seniors. Virtually all their production came from underclassmen. With that said, I am way higher on Albany than many. The Great Danes have the best backcourt in the America East.  They are going to show last year was an outlier and 20+ wins are the norm.

184. Hampton Pirates

Star Jermaine Marrow announced he was transferring, then announced he was staying. The announcement he was going to play his senior year for the Pirates, was a huge sigh of relief for head coach Edward Joyner. The Pirates are going to need their 25 points per game star, especially considering the first year in the Big South was a harsh reality that Hampton is no longer in the MEAC.

183. Lipscomb Bisons

Lipscomb lost a great game a season ago to Liberty in the Atlantic Sun title game. This is unfortunately a one-big league into the NCAA tournament. The Bison made a deep run to the NIT final four before their season ended. With it ended the greatest two-year run in Lipscomb basketball history. The team lost coach Casey Alexander to Belmont, they also lost stars Rob Marberry, Garrison Matthews and Kenny Cooper. The Bison are going to look a lot different on the floor and on the scoreboard.

182. Saint Louis Billikens

Saint Louis much like George Mason was a trendy pick to win the Atlantic 10 outright last year.  While Saint Louis did make the NCAA tournament their regular season was largely disappointing.  Head Coach Travis Ford and his teams usually struggle on the offensive end of the floor and last year was no different. Entering this season, the Saint Louis roster does not have much left off last season’s team. This year coach Ford is going to have to piece together a largely new roster and hope for a repeat in success.

181. Hawaii Warriors

Hawaii is a sneaky team who could surprise few fans in the Big West if they finished near the top of the league. The Warriors and coach Eran Ganot have a great inside out game with point guard Drew Buggs and big man Zigmars Raimo. Hawaii has a ton of frontcourt depth behind Raimo as well with athletic big man Mate Colina. The Warriors are still learning to win but there is a lot to like.

180. Illinois-Chicago Flames

The Flames return “do everything” star in Tarkus Ferguson along with the other 15 points per game scorers in Godwin Boahen and Marcus Ottey. Illinois-Chicago has yet to be able to get over the hump due to a lack of quality depth behind his star players. The Horizon League is up for the taking this year and the Flames have a good of chance as anyone.

179. Lehigh Mountain Hawks

Lehigh won 20 games last season, however heading into this season the Mountain Hawks may struggle. They no longer have leading scorer Lance Tejada, and star big man Pat Andree is no longer on campus. Lehigh is going to need to have some players step up that didn’t have a huge role last season.

178. Sam Houston State Bearkats

The Kats have had a winning record in all but one season of head coach Jason Hooten’s tenure.  Sam Houston State lost a lot from last season’s 16-win Southland conference regular-season championship. This season coach Hooten has some quality depth, but no one is more important than big man Kai Mitchell who is a reliable scorer.

177. Santa Clara Broncos

This is the best roster Herb Sendek has had in his tenure as the Santa Clara head coach. The Broncos have a fantastic guard and big man combo with Tajh Eaddy and Josip Vrankic. Santa Clara has not won more than 17 games in the Sendek tenure but that is going to change this year. The Broncos will be a tough out in a deep West Coast Conference.

176. Long Island Sharks

Long Island went through a rebrand in the offseason and now has one of the best mascots in college sports. The Sharks also have a good NEC team. They return their entire backcourt with Raiquan Clark, Julian Batts and Jashaun Agosto. Those three were a huge part of the surprise tournament run two seasons ago. Long Island should be considered one of the preseason favorites in the NEC.

175. Indiana State Sycamores

The Sycamores had a terrible time scoring last season. They also were middle of the pack on defense. When you put together an anemic offense with an okay defense you get the Indiana State basketball team. This year doesn’t appear to be any different, leading scorer Tyreke Key and guard Jordan Barnes are back in Terre Haute, but that is about it on offense.

174. North Carolina Central Eagles

Head coach LeVelle Moton does less with more every single year. The Eagles are going to be in position to claim the automatic bid in the MEAC yet again. Moton has things moving in the right direction at his alma mater. It would be surprising if he didn’t find a way to get his Eagles playing well right before the MEAC tournament.

173. Charleston Southern Buccaneers

Charleston Southern made a deep run in the Big South conference tournament a year ago. With the roster they were slated to have back everything set up nicely for the Buccaneers to make another deep run. Then star guard Christian Keeling decided to transfer up to North Carolina. The Buccaneers do still have a budding star in guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr. Coach Barclay Radebaugh has a good amount of depth to set himself up for another run at the Big South crown.