With the New Year approaching, let’s look at the most surprising and disappointing teams in the major conferences of NCAA Basketball.
2019 is drawing to close and soon we will flip our calendars to January 2020, which means two months of the NCAA Basketball season will be in the books and conference play is in on the horizon. With two months gone we now have a better idea of what teams look like than we did, say, after Thanksgiving.
Since the ball tipped on the season, one thing we have learned is that as of now there are no great teams in the sport. With Gonzaga ascending to the top spot in the polls on Dec. 22, there have been six different teams in the No. 1 slot before Christmas and the record for a season is seven teams. With so much volatility in the polls and seemingly no dominant teams, as of Christmas Day, there remain only three undefeated teams remaining, Auburn, Liberty, and San Diego State. There are many reasons for the volatility, whether it is teams are better or worse than people expected or injuries to important players like Cole Anthony at North Carolina, Western Kentucky’s Charles Bassey, or St. Mary’s Matthias Tass.
However, it is not just in the polls where there have been surprises, there have been surprising teams, both good and bad across the sport. So, with conference play quickly approaching, now is as good of a time as any to look at what I consider the most surprising and disappointing teams in each of the eight major conferences across college basketball so far this season.