18. New Mexico Lobos
2019-20 record: 16-5 (5-3 in Mountain West)
No team in the country has gone through more turmoil than the Lobos in the past month. They dismissed senior forward Carlton Bragg, while fellow starter JJ Caldwell has been allowed back on campus after being previously suspended, although still isn’t on the team currently. And injury issues to their best player JaQuan Lyle has surfaced. They’ve given up 99+ points in back-to-back losses, before destroying San Jose State earlier this week without half of their rotation available. There’s still enough talent on this team to finish in the top-tier of the Mountain West but there’s also a possibility that New Mexico completely craters down the stretch.
17. Duquesne Dukes
2019-20 record: 15-3 (5-1 in Atlantic 10)
Duquesne was on track for a shocking 6-0 start in A-10 play this week, before being outscored by 30 points in the second half in a loss to Rhode Island. The Dukes have still been very impressive overall, on track of its first 20+ win season since 2008-09. Junior forward Marcus Weathers continues to make a case for a First-Team All-Atlantic 10 spot. They can really make a statement next week, taking on top-10 Dayton at home (neutral).
16. Liberty Flames
2019-20 record: 19-2 (5-1 in ASUN)
One of the biggest questions during conference play was going to be whether or not Liberty could go unbeaten during ASUN play. That was answered on Thursday night, losing on the road at North Florida in the final seconds. There’s no shame in losing to the second-best team in the league but when your at-large hopes almost counted on winning all your conference games (no Quad 1 or 2 wins on the resume), then this loss stings. But even though Liberty has superior talent, a lack of a scoring offense (bottom 3rd nationally in ppg) will have them in close games down the stretch, making upsets like this possible.