NCAA Basketball: Power ranking of all 357 teams for 2020-21 season

290. Illinois State Redbirds

The bottom two teams in the Missouri Valley are teams who are not going to strike fear into many opponents. The Redbirds are one of those teams, they are largely in a rebuilding phase and do not have many proven pieces on their roster especially on the offensive end. The one intriguing piece on their roster of DJ Horne is going to have to carry this team.

289. Manhattan Jaspers

The Jaspers can never seem to find any good offense and they are always near the bottom of Divison one in points scored per game, but they are always near the top in total defense, defensive efficiency, and points allowed per game. In layman’s terms, if Manhattan could ever figure out how to score points consistently, they would be a threat to win the MAAC every year.

The Jaspers have a trio of transfers to hopefully help kick start the offense but most of them are known for their defense. Anthony Nelson from Seton Hall becomes the key man on both sides of the ball.

288. Hampton Pirates

The Pirates were one win away from the NCAA tournament a season ago as they lost to Winthrop in the Big South tournament final. That team had the highest-scoring duo in the country last year with two players who accounted for 46 points between the two of them. Hampton also had a top 35 offense last year.

The Pirates are going to look different this year as their two great scorers are no longer on campus and Hampton is still going to be porous on defense. Even with 10 point per game scorer, Davion Warren the Pirates will not have that offensive firepower. Without a drastic improvement on the defensive end, it will be tough for Hampton to return to the top of the Big South, the Pirates are looking at a bottom half finish in the league.

287. Weber State Wildcats

Weber State is one of the winningest programs in college basketball, but they have fallen on some hard times. Last year with one of the best players in the Big Sky the Wildcats underachieved and finished with their worst record since the 2005-2006 season. Weber State is currently going through another transitional phase and this year doesn’t appear to be much better than the previous season.

The roster is new and unproven and may have to rely a lot on some major division one transfers who didn’t have a lot of success at the bigger schools. Junior College transfer Zahir Porter is a player who could turn into a star for Weber State. The Wildcats a bottom-tier team in the Big Sky.

286. Florida Gulf Coast Eagles

Dunk City has not been doing much dunking lately. In fact, they have not been doing much scoring as they finished well into the bottom third of the offensive rankings. Florida Gulf Coast only managed to score right around 62 points per game for the season. It is a shame they were not great on offense because they were a great defensive team and that led them to some wins last year. Caleb Catto returns to help the Eagles’ offense.

285. Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks

The Skyhawks were never short on excitement as they liked to run. They scored about 76 points per game a season ago which was good enough for top 100 in the country, but Tennessee-Martin couldn’t stop anyone as they gave up about 83 points per game. So both teams like to get back up and down the floor. As a result of their lack of defense the Skyhawks only won nine games in fact Tennessee-Martin has been getting progressively worse each year of the last few seasons.

Parker Stewart is one of the best natural scorers in the country and is going to average over 20 points per game this year. This season will have some added meaning for the Skyhawks as head coach Anthony Stewart recently passed away unexpectedly.

284. San Jose State Spartans

The Optimist could look at the season the Spartans had last year and would be encouraged. The Spartans had their best season in the last three and with what they have returning this year they are not the worst team in the Mountain West. Seneca Knight is a legitimate 20 points per game scorer for head coach Jean Prioleau and San Jose State. Double-digit wins would be tremendous progress.

283. Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers

The Mount was a hard team to figure out last season. They were not a good team as they only won 11 games and at times they were anemic on offense and could not score the ball. The Mountaineers only scored a tad over 64 points per game last year which was in the bottom third in the country last year.

Their starting five was where they got virtually all their scoring and Mount St. Mary’s did not have much quality depth at all. This year the team gets younger but still has star Damian Chong-Qui to help try and improve this offense. As it currently stands the Mountaineers are a bottom third team in the Northeast Conference.

282. Bucknell Bison

It has been a long time that Bucknell has not entered the season with any expectations at all. I may be a lot lower on the Bison this year than others, but their roster does not currently have much.

The team had a really hard time scoring the ball at times last year and their defense was mediocre. That is not going to be recipe for success in any league. Andrew Funk is the player the Bison are going to rely on for just about everything and the Bison end up in the bottom third of the Patriot League.

281. New Orleans Privateers

The Privateers just completed their worst season they have had since joining the Southland in 2013-2014. New Orleans was usually a middle of the pack team but with their inability to get enough stops in a game it never led to many wins. New Orleans had no problem scoring as they averaged around 76 points per game.

It was on the defensive end where they didn’t show up. The Privateers gave up almost 80 points per game on that end of the floor and in their last five games of the season gave up 80 plus in all four losses and 90 twice. Even with 15 points per game scorer Troy Green back, New Orleans is still a bottom tier team in the Southland.

280. Grambling State Tigers

The Tigers have now had four seasons in a row with at least 16 wins and that is the best run in their school history. The window to make their first NCAA tournament may have closed for a few years though. Grambling is trending up and is no longer the worst program in the country like they were much of the last two decades.

Grambling lost two of their best players, but they do have tall and lanky guard Prince Moss back to lead the Tigers on their quest to finish higher than the middle of the SWAC.

279. San Diego Toreros

San Diego really felt the effects of losing three of the better players in the West Coast Conference the year before. The Toreros and head coach Sam Scholl really struggled in the first year of their rebuild. The West Coast Conference is becoming increasingly hard to rebuild in, but San Diego tried to do it quickly with eligible transfers and keeping junior guard Joey Calcaterra on campus. Still is going to be an uphill climb for San Diego this year.

278. Incarnate Word Cardinals

The Cardinals have had some success at the Division 1 level. They went into Lincoln and beat Nebraska a year after the Huskers made the NCAA tournament, since then Incarnate Word has been struggling again to find that magic. This year may be the best year they have had in the last five as they have two stellar sophomores in Keaston Willis and Drew Lutz. Incarnate Word could be looking at double-digit wins this year.

277. Arkansas State Red Wolves

Arkansas State had their best season under current head coach Mike Balado a year ago and that was exactly .500 overall and finished in the bottom half of the Sun Belt a season ago. The Red Wolves do have their two top scorers back in Marquis Eaton and Caleb Fields to lead the offense. The Sun Belt is going to be much better this year so it still may be a battle for Arkansas State to win games within the conference.

276. St. Francis (Pa) Red Flash

The window for the Red Flash has likely closed. St. Francis lost two premier Northeast conference scorers and those two players were both all-conference. It is going to be hard to replicate the 78 points per game the Red Flash averaged last year.

Not all is lost for St. Francis this year though as they do have a nice core of players coming back from last seasons team, but the roster depth is questionable and the roster is going to be extremely young which does not usually bode well for a team that may be searching for an identity early in the season, for that reason St. Francis ends up a middle of the pack team. Myles Thompson is going to be the go-to guy on offense for the Red Flash.

275. Niagara Purple Eagles

Heading into last season Niagara had quite the offseason they hired Patrick Beilein and then he resigned for personal reasons so Greg Paulus was given the reigns two weeks or so before the season began. It would have been understandable had they finished last in the conference.

However, Paulus was able to guide his team to 12 wins, which is not great but impressive given the roster and the amount of time he had to coach them. Niagara finished middle of the pack in the MAAC last year and with Marcus Hammond back on campus don’t be surprised to see them there again.

274. Detroit Mercy Titans

The Titans have one of the best scorers in the country in Antoine Davis, who just so happens to be head coach Mike Davis’ son. The Titans have struggled to get their footing with coach Davis, but they should be better this year, as Detroit Mercy saw an influx of transfers.

One of the key pieces that will be the difference between the bottom of the league and potential middle of the league is the development of Seton Hall transfer Taurean Thompson. Thompson has struggled in college up to this point, but he does have a high ceiling. Detroit will still likely finish in the bottom third of the league.

273. Florida Atlantic Owls

The Owls have been consistent the last two seasons as they have finished with virtually identical records at 17-15 and have gone exactly 8-10 in the Conference USA. This season it will probably be a lot of the same as Florida Atlantic has the makings of a .500 team all over them. They have enough to be in every game they play but they just don’t have enough talent to separate them from the top of the league. Jailyn Ingram returns to lead the Owl offense.

272. William & Mary Tribe

It is likely going to be a tough year for the Tribe, and it is understandable. William & Mary lost their best player in program history in Nathan Knight and one of the better scoring big men in the Colonial in Andy Van Vliet. The Tribe is going to struggle in the conference as they try and find the right combination to try and replace the production left behind by those two. Senior Luke Loewe is going to see his role drastically increase.

271. Cal State Fullerton Titans

Outside of a surprise run to the NCAA tournament three seasons ago the Titans have not been great under head coach Dedrique Taylor. This year they may be a little bit better, but they still won’t be anywhere close to competing in the Big West or competing for an NCAA tournament bid.

Fullerton is going to have a young team and they have helped offset that by filling the roster with some JUCO transfers. The Titans have some intriguing new pieces who could change the fortunes of this team mainly JUCO transfer Jalen Harris.

270. Radford Highlanders

Radford has been one of the top teams in the Big South over the last three seasons but this year their fortunes are going to change. It has been mentioned before that the bottom of the Big South is not good and is going to struggle.

Radford fits into this category, as they have a young and inexperienced roster and because of massive amounts of roster turnover, they are going to have to rely heavily on JUCO transfers and some players who have not shown much to this point in their college careers. Scoring may be a chore for this team. JUCO transfer Dante Moses looks to be that guy. Radford is a bottom tier team in the Big South.

269. North Alabama Lions

Head coach Tony Pujol is ready to do battle with his North Alabama squad in year three of their transition to Division 1 basketball. The Lions did not have a single senior on last season’s roster, which means most of that roster is back this year including star guard Jamari Blackmon. North Alabama improved on their overall win total last year and finished middle of the pack in the Atlantic Sun. Expect more of the same from the Lions.

268. Saint Joseph’s Hawks

Saint Joseph’s just experienced their worst year in the school’s long illustrious history on the hardwood. There are no two ways around it the Hawks were terrible last year and it was due to their lack of ability on the defensive end of the ball. The Hawks could not stop anyone as they gave up close to 80 points per game. Saint Joseph’s does have a star in guard Ryan Daly who is back for his final season to try and help the Hawks climb out of the basement.

267. Northwestern State Demons

In the days leading up to last season Demons head coach Mike McConathy said that last year’s team was the best team he has had at Northwestern State. He was not wrong as that team finished .500 and middle of pack in the Southland Conference.  The conference should be better this year and while Northwestern State may finish with a record near .500, they won’t finish as high in the Southland pecking order. Jairus Roberson leads the charge for the Demons.

266. Prairie View A&M Panthers

The Panthers just experienced the two best years in their history. Two seasons ago they won 20 games for the first time and last year they won the SWAC as well. This year though may be a different story. Prairie View lost a ton of production from last year’s team and the team is going to be young. The Panthers do have some quality talent led by junior Faite Williams, that talent should help them finish in the middle of the SWAC standings.

265. UMKC Kangaroos

The Summit League gained a new member, as the Missouri-Kansas City Roos left the WAC to join a conference that makes the most geographical sense for them. UMKC had a great year under their new head coach Billy Donlon. Donlon looks to continue the momentum in the return to the Summit League.

The Roos hope to have better success in the Summit League the second time around as the first go-around didn’t go very well. Senior Brandon McKissic leads the Roos in their quest for Summit dominance and hopefully their first NCAA tournament appearance.

264. Utah Valley Wolverines

Utah Valley lost a ton of production from last year’s team that finished near the bottom of the WAC. Given the way the roster is shaking out this year it doesn’t appear that much will change for head coach Mark Madsen and his Wolverines.

Utah Valley saw an influx of transfers and JUCO players into the program to help jumpstart the rebuild. Forward Asa McCord put up good numbers at Salt Lake Community College last year and looks he is going to be a good player for the Wolverines.

263. Lehigh Mountain Hawks

Lehigh had their worst season since 2001-2002. It was the first time since then that Lehigh has not really been competitive in the Patriot League. Head coach Brett Reed is a good coach, but the Patriot league is going to be really good at the top. It will be tough for the Mountain Hawks to gain any headway. I do expect them to be better, but they still are a bottom four team in the Patriot. Jeameril Wilson returns to lead the Lehigh offense.

262. Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles

The Golden Eagles may end up being much better than their ranking as they have some very intriguing pieces on their roster. The problem is that no one knows how well they gel or if the role players are going to step up and make a noticeable difference and provide their star Jr Clay with some help scoring the ball. Tennessee Tech plays in a really tough conference and they struggled mightily last year and that inconsistency is why they find themselves with this ranking.

261. Coppin State Eagles

Is this finally the year for Coppin State?  Not the year to get back to the NCAA tournament but finally turn the corner under head coach Juan Dixon. The Eagles won their last three games last year and had some positive momentum going before the season was cancelled. Coppin State bolstered their roster using the grad transfer market and they were able to keep their top offensive threat Koby Thomas on campus. The Eagles are going to be much improved.