Mid-major Basketball: Early 2020-21 preview for Belmont Basketball

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - MARCH 21: Adam Kunkel #5 of the Belmont Bruins reacts on the bench in the second half of play against the Maryland Terrapins during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at VyStar Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on March 21, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

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DAYTON, OHIO – MARCH 19: Head coach Rick Byrd of the Belmont Bruins (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Belmont Basketball has one of the best mid-major teams in the country. Why are they such a special program and just how good can they be in 2020-21?

There is a basketball powerhouse about four miles south of downtown Nashville, Tennessee. People don’t really talk about them much, but they’ve quietly been one of the best basketball programs in America this century. Since the year, 2000 Belmont Basketball’s record is 434-206, a 68% – win rate, but in the last decade they have truly become a model of consistency in the sport. The Bruins have a top 10 winning percentage nationally since 2010 of 75% and are top 20 in total wins.

Those numbers are amazing, yet notoriety has been hard to come by even in its own city, competing with three other division-one universities sitting within a six-mile radius of Belmont Boulevard as well as two major professional sports teams. Oh, and there is a little area called Honky Tonk Row in Downtown Nashville’s entertainment district that you may have heard of, only a 10-minute drive from Belmont’s campus.

Despite being over shadowed in its own town, a beautiful basketball tradition has been built at the small Christian school in the Music City. The journey to achieving this tradition and success is an even cooler part of the story and that conversation starts with Rick Byrd. Byrd took over an NAIA program in 1986 that had experienced moderate success which he then turned into an NAIA super power winning 260 games in a ten year span where the formerly named Rebels went to the playoffs in nine of those campaigns.

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By 1996 Belmont was an official member of the NCAA and just five years later (2001) joined a conference for the first time. Byrd won Belmont’s first conference title (Atlantic Sun at the time) in 2005-06 and they haven’t finished worst than second place in their conference since then. Let me say that another way… Belmont has finished either 1st or 2nd in its conference 15 years in a row. That’s incredible.

Byrd retired after the 2018-19 season and in stepped Casey Alexander who played and coached under the Belmont legend. The Bruins didn’t miss a step going 26-7 with an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship to boot. Guess what? Belmont is not going anywhere. The team with 14th best scoring offense in the country a season ago returns 4 of its top 5 scorers and welcomes its highest rated recruit in school history to Nashville in Even Brauns.

Byrd set the groundwork but was never able to achieve NCAA tournament success. Now his protégé looks poised to take his alma mater to the next level. Let’s take a look at who the 2020-21 Bruins are going to look like and just how good they can be.