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

292. Presbyterian Blue Hose

Presbyterian won 20 games for the first time in their history a season ago. Then coach Dustin Kerns took the job at Appalachian State, with him went their star freshman guard Adam Flagler out the door. The Blue Hose also lost their other top scorers to graduation. Presbyterian is trending down.

291. Longwood Lancers

The Longwood Lancers had their second-best season in their school’s history a season ago. Head coach Griff Aldrich did a great job in year one. The Lancers return their top two scorers and are led by a potential All-Big South type of guard Shabooty Phillips. Can Longwood replicate their success from a year ago?

290. Rice Owls

Head Coach Scott Pera oversaw a 6-win improvement during the second year of his tenure. The Owls return their top three scorers and upstart sophomore Trey Murphy. The problem is Rice doesn’t have much to show for their basketball program and they play in a tough conference.  They have not made the NCAA tournament since the 1969-1970 season.

289. Sacramento State Hornets

Sacramento State finished one game under .500 a season ago. They did lose their best player and leading scorer. Head coach Brian Katz minimized that loss by filling the roster with JUCO transfers and a sit-out transfer. The Hornets may be experienced with the remainder of their roster, but those players have not done much in college basketball and the new pieces are unproven.

288. Merrimack Warriors

Welcome to your first year of Division 1 Basketball. The Warriors are a member of the Northeast Conference. Merrimack has a very capable player in Juvaris Hayes. Don’t know how many games they will win, but with Hayes they have a chance in every close game.

287. The Citadel Bulldogs

One word to describe the Bulldog offense is fast. They shoot a tremendous amount of three-pointers, around 36 a game. That style of offense usually leads to scoring a lot of points. The issue is that The Citadel at times has an aversion to playing defense. If that changes, they can beat a lot of teams.

286. Holy Cross Crusaders

The Patriot League is always a tightly contested conference. Holy Cross led by former longtime Northwestern coach Bill Carmody finished in last place a season ago. The Crusaders have most of their production returning from a season ago and a new coach Brett Nelson. That team last year was one game under .500.

285. Texas A and M Corpus Christi Islanders

Coach Willis Wilson has fallen on some hard times the last few seasons. Prior to the last two seasons, the Islanders had four straight winning seasons and three straight 20-win seasons. The Islanders have been buried by transfers and graduation of key players.

284. Pacific Tigers

After two straight 14-win seasons and losing your senior team leader. It is hard to be excited about the prospect of Damon Stoudamire climbing out of the West Coast Conference basement. The conference is loaded this year with a lot of depth after Gonzaga.

283. Wagner Seahawks

The Seahawks have been one of the consistently good programs in the Northeast Conference.  Outside of a handful of years, like last year, they finish at or near the top the standings. Head coach Bashir Mason takes a new group of young players to battle in a conference that is loaded with experience at the top. It doesn’t appear Wagner will be great, but nothing would be surprising.

282. UMass-Lowell River Hawks

The River Hawks experienced the best season they have had since joining the Division one ranks in 2013. Coach Gary Duquette has a good core of his team returning from a team that finished top-75 nationally in scoring average per game. Christian LuTete returns with his eye on a spot on the America East All-conference team.

281. North Carolina A and T Aggies

The Aggies had been trending in the right direction finishing near the top of MEAC in back to back seasons. The team from last year had many seniors who played a lot of minutes and were big contributors to head coach Jay Joyner’s balanced attack. The Aggies do have leading scorer Quavius Copeland back on campus, to help lead a younger and less experienced roster.

280. Florida Atlantic Owls

First-year head coach Dusty May led the Owls to their first winning season since 2010-2011.  Coach May is going to need to figure out a way to replace the production of his only double-digit scorers who were both seniors. The Owls could experience some growing pains this season.

279. Canisius Golden Griffins

Canisius was one of the teams to beat the last few seasons in the MAAC conference. After a disappointing season a year ago, the teams two best players Takal Molson and Isaiah Reese are no longer with the program. Canisius will have to wait another year to return to the NCAA tournament.

278. Eastern Illinois Panthers

The Panthers showed some life last year in the Ohio Valley and have a great duo to lean on. Guards Josiah Wallace and Mack Smith are the leaders on this team and the go-to guys on offense. With much of the team returning the Panthers have a chance to climb the ranks of the Ohio Valley, especially if their stars pick up where they left off last year.

277. Houston Baptist Huskies

Coach Ron Cottrell led his Huskies to six more wins last season than the previous season. Heading into this year the Huskies have one of the premier guards in the Southland conference in Ian DuBose. In a previous writing it was mentioned how DuBose had a better supporting cast, but transfers have destroyed what could have been one of the best backcourts in the Southland.

276. Navy Midshipmen

So many mid-major programs have an uphill battle in recruiting. When you throw in the fact that you must dedicate the four years after you leave school to the Navy, that is another hindrance that only a few schools can relate to. Navy loses their top two scorers from the 313th ranked offense a year ago. It is going to be another uphill climb for the Navy.

275. Drexel Dragons

Drexel has won 13 games each of the last two years. Scoring the basketball has not been a problem for the Dragons under head coach Zack Spiker. The reason they are losing games is due to their inefficiency on the defensive end. Spiker will need to remedy that problem quickly.

274. Saint Joseph’s Hawks

When Saint Joseph’s decided to part ways with coach Phil Martelli, no one quite knew what the aftermath would be. Due to the firing, the Hawks three best players all decided to leave. The Hawks are in a rebuild mode which is unchartered territory for Saint Joseph’s

273. Tulane Green Wave

Tulane is going to open the season with one of the longest losing streaks in the country. The 21 straight losses sting, but the only way to go is up.  New head coach Ron Hunter built a powerhouse program at Georgia State and is looking to do the same thing at Tulane. In year one coach Hunter assured everyone Tulane was not going to finish last in the conference.