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

353. Chicago State Cougars

Chicago State has won six games in the last two seasons. Head Coach Lance Irvin may turn them around, but it is going to take a long time. The Cougars are going to be the whipping boy for college basketball again.

352. Alabama A and M Bulldogs

The Bulldogs averaged just over 60 points per game a season ago. Their two leading scorers are no longer on campus. They did improve their win total by two games a season ago, to five total wins. Coach Dylan Marsh has an uphill climb.

351. Cleveland State Vikings

Cleveland State had quite the offseason. The school decided to fire former coach Dennis Felton. After the firing it was a mass exodus of players out of the program. New coach Dennis Gates is a good coach, but he has been put in an impossible position.

350. USC Upstate Spartans

The Spartans are in the midst of a program overhaul. The current roster does not have a single junior or senior. Aside from being one of the youngest teams in the country, the Spartans are still looking for the quality talent to help them compete in the Big South.

349. Idaho Vandals

After a miserable season, the Vandals could be in for a worse one. Former head coach Don Verlin was let go after an investigation uncovered multiple NCAA violations. The decision was easy based on the 27-loss season and total loss of control over the last season. Prior to last season the Vandals had been respectable.

348. Incarnate Word Cardinals

The small school from Texas won one game in the Southland conference a season ago. They were overmatched and appear to be again. Morgan Taylor is the teams go to guy, but there is not much else around him. The Cardinals are far away from the team that went into Lincoln and knocked off Nebraska about five years ago.

347. New Hampshire Wildcats

The fighting Bill Herrion’s have not shown much fight in his entire tenure as their coach. New Hampshire has struggled to win games in the America East due mostly to coach Herrion and his lack of ability to recruit any quality talent, especially guards. The Wildcats enter this year without anyone of note in their backcourt, so it appears to be more of the same.

346. Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks

The Hawks desperately needed a change of scenery and a coach who has high-level experience.  Enter Jason Crafton who just recently coached in the NBA G-League. He took the Eastern Shore job hoping to turn around the fortunes of one of the historically bad programs in college basketball.

345. San Jose State Spartans

The Spartans have been terrible for the last two seasons only racking up a total of eight wins. The team plays in the Mountain West and has not been competitive in virtually any of those games.  They have also been hurt by the transfer bug as NBA player Brandon Clarke started his career for the Spartans.

344. Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils

The Delta Devils like most of the SWAC teams spend November and most of December getting their behind’s whipped and taking buy games. Why? The athletic department needs that money to function. The problem with this is that Mississippi Valley State usually is far less talented than most teams they play including those in the SWAC.

343. Portland Pilots

Terry Porter is a Pilot legend, and he is also the current head coach of the Pilot basketball team.  When he took over, he had a team that had talent. After transfers of virtually all his key players including Nevada star Jazz Johnson, the Pilots have been left to pick up the pieces. Porter may be a legend, but he is still required to win.

342. UNC Asheville Bulldogs

The Bulldogs were one of the youngest teams in the country a season ago. UNC-Asheville went from winning 21 games and being one of the better mid-major programs to a doormat, and only winning four games in less than a year. They are one of the younger teams in the country again this season, and year two of the Mike Morell hopefully goes better.

341. Alcorn State Braves

The Braves like many other teams in the SWAC always have lopsided win and loss records. These schools are small and do not make much money. Alcorn State was a competitive team by their standards in the SWAC a year ago. They don’t do much to move the needle nationally.

340. Delaware State Hornets

Eric Skeeters enters his second season as head coach of the Delaware State Hornets. He inherited a program that had been one of the country’s worst. This season he has most of his roster from a season ago returning. The Hornets have made one NCAA tournament in their history, they have a long way to go to get back to another one, but they are improving.

339. Kennesaw State Owls

The Owls were coached by legendary Boston College coach Al Skinner. Skinner was never able to find the footing that led to all of that success at Boston College. The Owls decided to hire former Georgia assistant Amir Abdur-Rahim.  Kennesaw State doesn’t appear to be getting any better any faster.

338. Southern Jaguars

Not too long ago Southern was the class of the SWAC conference. The mighty have fallen and the Jaguars are hoping second-year head coach Sean Woods can help bring this program back to prominence. The Jaguars don’t appear to be down for long.

337. Cal Poly Mustangs

The Mustangs have consistently been one of the worst programs in the Big West, and some years the nation. They have won a combined total of 15 games in the last two years. This season they enter after losing their two leading scorers from a team that won six games a year ago. Former head coach Joe Callero did not leave new coach John Smith much to work with.

336. Morgan State Bears

Morgan State had been competitive in their conference. The problem is the MEAC has been one of the worst conferences in the country for a long time. Morgan State decided to go a different direction and hired Kevin Broadus to lead their program. The transition may be tough for a team that won nine games a season ago

335. Maine Black Bears

If not for New Hampshire, Maine would be the worst team in the America East. The Black Bears have not won an America East tournament game in 15 years. Maine has won 35 games over the last six years for an average of six wins per season.

334. Denver Pioneers

The Pioneers lost one of the better shooters in the Summit League a season ago when Joe Rosga graduated. The team is currently rebuilding, and this season won’t give the Pioneers fans much hope. They are hoping for more wins than eight.

333. Stetson Hatters

New head coach Donnie Jones inherits a team that won seven games a season ago. He lost the only good player he had with Abayomi Iyiola. Another problem is that Stetson has never been a decent basketball team. They have won 22 games in the Atlantic Sun over the last six seasons.