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

260. Quinnipiac Bobcats

The Bobcats have had some talented players come through the program under head coach Baker Dunleavy, Quinnipiac has just never seemed to be able to get over the hump or live up to the expectations that they have had coming into seasons.

This season the expectations are tempered considering they lost the nations leading rebounder to transfer and their leading scorer is no longer on campus. Bobcat fans are going to have to wait another year for their first tournament appearance. Junior point guard Tyrese Williams hopes the team exceeds expectations and finishes higher than middle of the pack in MAAC.

259. Longwood Lancers

Longwood is a team that is hard to predict this year. They lost a lot of key pieces from their team a year ago. The Lancers are a middle of pack Big South team because they are well-coached, and their roster is loaded with extremely athletic and talented kids. Due to the athleticism up and down the roster and the overall potential of this team, I like Longwood maybe more than I should. Juan Munoz is the best player for the Lancers.

258. Montana Grizzlies

The Grizzlies are well-coached and have been one of the top three in the Big Sky for quite some time. I am not as high on Montana as I likely need to be. The Grizzlies have so many new pieces to fit in it may take a while for the chemistry to truly be there. If any coach can work through it though it is DeCurie, and he is going to get his guys ready to play every night.

Montana got great news when Sacred Heart transfer Cameron Parker was deemed eligible this year he is going to help this offense immensely because he is an elite passer. Montana is still a middle of the pack Big Sky team.

257. Cal Baptist Lancers

The Lancers had a top 20 offense a year ago and were a joy to watch on the offensive side of the ball. This year is going to be much different as the Lancers don’t have a single player returning who averaged more than four points a game. The top returning player averaged less than 20 minutes per game as well.

The Lancers are a bottom-three team in the WAC and may be one of the worst teams in the country. If the graduate transfers, they have acquired gel together quickly that may save Cal Baptist but none of those guys jump off the page. Transfer Mark Carbone may be in for a big year.

256. Tarleton State Texans

Tarleton State is another newcomer to the Division 1 ranks and with them, they bring back former Texas A&M head coach Billie Gillispie. The Texans will begin play in the WAC and they are looking at a revamped roster and a new coach. They have a roster that has a lot of unknowns and their first year in Division 1 should see them finish near the bottom of the WAC but senior Clashon Gaffney is going to try and change that.

255. Loyola Maryland Greyhounds

Tavaras Hardy has done a tremendous job with the rebuild at Loyola. The Greyhounds play an exciting brand of basketball and are slowly getting better as a team. Greyhound fans are going to have to adjust to life without star Andrew Kostecka, but Loyola has another budding star in big man Santi Aldama.

The frontcourt is going to be the strength of the team this year as they have two dominant bigs who are likely going to be on the floor together a lot. Alongside Aldama is Golden Dike. The improvement continues and the Greyhounds move up a few spots to occupy the middle of the pack in the Patriot League.

254. McNeese State Cowboys

Head coach Heath Schroyer did a fantastic job with the Cowboys last year. He was able to secure the most wins the team has had since the 2014-2015 season with 15 and he did it all while having a top 20 offense and averaging 80 points per game. McNeese State can attribute a lot of that to the fact that they have the best shooter in the country.

Dru Kuxhausen is the best three-point shooter in the country and he is likely going to average near 20 points per game this year. The Cowboys are one of the teams who can outplay this ranking

253. Louisiana Ragin Cajuns

Louisiana took a step back last year, after six straight seasons of nearly 20 wins the Ragin Cajuns failed to win 15 games and finished near the bottom of the Sun Belt a season ago. This year it looks likely that the rebuild will continue this year as the roster is going to be relatively young and unproven. Louisiana didn’t have much of a defense last year either and until that gets corrected, they won’t likely win many games this year either. Cedric Russell comes back to lead Louisiana.

252. Morehead State Eagles

The Eagles are a hard team to pinpoint just how good they will be. They lost their two best scorers from a season ago but still return a good chunk of the roster from last year and added some nice pieces in the offseason.

The Ohio Valley is a ridiculously competitive conference so it is reasonable to slate them in the middle, but they could finish in the bottom half it all matters how well this team comes together. James Baker Jr. is the senior leader who hopes to get his team on a little run.

251. Bryant Bulldogs

Head Coach Jerod Grasso has done a fantastic job on the rebuild of Bryant. When he took the job three offseason ago he inherited one of the worst teams in the country and since then he has turned them into a competitive team in the Northeast Conference.

Even despite losing their best player from last season’s team the Bulldogs are a middle-of-the-pack Northeast team and have a chance to creep into the top tier. Michael Green looks to build on his freshman of the year campaign and take Bryant to new heights.

250. Fresno State Bulldogs

The Bulldogs underachieved massively last season. They only won 11 games and now that roster that had some promise is in full rebuild mode due to the graduation of some key players. The Fresno State roster this year doesn’t have much and they are going to have to rely on some players who have been mostly role players in the college careers thus far.

Fresno State is not the worst team in the league, but they are close. DePaul transfer Devin Gage is going to need to have a big year for the Bulldogs to move out of the bottom three of the Mountain West.

249. Southern Utah Thunderbirds

Last season the nonconference portion of the schedule was very kind to the Thunderbirds. Southern Utah came to Lincoln and beat Nebraska in double overtime and then gave BYU and UCLA all they could handle.

In the conference, they started out well but faded down the stretch of the league. The Thunderbirds return most of their roster from last season and should be a little better this year. They are a middle of the pack Big Sky team and are led by John Knight III on offense.

248. Cal St. Bakersfield Roadrunners

Bakersfield never felt right when they were participating in the WAC, so they have decided to make the transition to the Big West Conference. The Big West is going to be a much more competitive conference and won’t be dominated by the same team every year. That could be good for the Roadrunners.

This season’s team is going to be one of the older teams in the league, but they still are going to lack talent in some areas and should finish near middle of the Big West.  Taze Moore is the go-to guy for Bakersfield.

247. Northeastern Huskies

The Huskies took a huge step back last year. After two consecutive seasons with nearly identical records, Northeastern struggled mightily last year. The struggles were hard to pinpoint because in one game the Huskies would look like they were going to come out and blow someone out, and in the next game, the Huskies would come out and get blown out.

This season the Huskies are going to finish in the middle of the pack in the Colonial like they did last year. Tyson Walker leads this group of young and inexperienced players.

246. UTSA Roadrunners

Scoring has never been a problem for the Roadrunners, they are one of the best scoring teams in the country because they have two of the best guards in the country at any level. UTSA has a problem on the defensive end of the floor. They can’t stop anyone as good as they are on offense is as bad as they are on defense and it has been that way for quite some time.

UTSA loves to run and they love to score, at times it seems they like to try and outscore their opponent and hope the clock runs out. I hope the Roadrunners can get their defense under control because the country needs to see Jhivaan Jackson and his scoring in the conference tournament. Jackson can score 30 a game but will likely be around 25 per game. The Roadrunners are a bottom 5 team in the conference USA.

245. Western Michigan Broncos

The Steve Hawkins era at Western Michigan came to a very unceremonious end. Hawkins did a lot for Western Michigan and was responsible for half of the school’s NCAA tournament appearances. This season the Broncos are with a new coach and a very unproven roster. Things don’t look like they are going to go well for Western Michigan this year. Sophomore B. Artis White looks to become the teams leading scorer and hopefully help lead this team from the MAC West basement.

244. Valparaiso Crusaders

Admittedly I should probably be much higher on the Crusaders considering they are well-coached and did make the final of the Valley tournament last year and were one win away from making the NCAA tournament a season ago. They did lose one of the best players in the conference though when star Javon Freeman-Liberty decided to transfer.

Even with a good chunk of the roster coming back and led by promising sophomore Donovan Clay, Valpo still likely finishes bottom-third of the Missouri Valley Conference.

243. Wyoming Cowboys

Wyoming basketball won’t be at the bottom for long. The Cowboys gave former coach Allen Edwards something to be proud of before he was fired at the end of last year. Wyoming went on a very unexpected run through the Mountain West tournament before falling to eventual champion Utah State.

New coach Jeff Linder takes over a team with some great players led by Hunter Maldonado. The Cowboys are better coached and have a roster this year that can make some noise in the conference.

242. St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers

It is going to be hard to get a good read on just how good the Terriers will be this year. They should be pretty good and finish in the top half of the Northeast Conference. The team has also been good at underachieving when their expectations are the highest. St. Francis Brooklyn does have one of the best players in the league who has a good chance to win the player of the year in Chauncey Hawkins.

Aside from Hawkins the Terriers also return two other double-digit scorers so they have a chance to be one of the best Northeast teams, but quality depth keeps them right in the middle of the league.

241. Navy Midshipmen

It is never easy for the service academies to play sports as they have so many limitations when it comes to recruiting. Navy is the best of all the service academy teams this year and it is due in large part to their relentless defense. They can get after it on the defensive end and they have a star and all Patriot league player in Cam Davis back. Navy is a middle of the pack team in the Patriot.

240. Jackson State Tigers

Jackson State is another one of those teams from an HBCU who never gets coverage even though they have two great players. The Tigers finished in their comfortable position last year and that was right in the middle of the pack in the conference. They have always enough talent to finish in the top half but not usually enough talent to win the league. Star guard Tristan Jarrett is hoping that they can finally climb the ranks this year.

239. Norfolk State Spartans

It isn’t that Norfolk State got worse it is that the MEAC got a ton better in the offseason. The Spartans are still going to be competitive and no one who follows the MEAC is counting them out. The roster just is not as strong as the teams in front of them. They go from a top half MEAC team a year ago to a middle of the pack MEAC team this year, and that is with star Joe Bryant Jr. returning to lead the offense.

238. American Eagles

The Eagles finished last season with 16 wins and those were the most wins the Eagles have had since 2014-2015. American also finished second in the Patriot League last year which was their best finish since 2013-2014. The Eagles are another team who plays relatively slow and they play close games.

This season they lose one of the best players in the Patriot League and without him, that leaves a little bit of a hole in the roster. Jamir Harris is back to lead the Eagles in their quest to finish in the top 4 of the league.

237. Lamar Cardinals

Lamar under head coach Tic Price has had four winning seasons in a row and will likely get a fifth winning season. The Cardinals are good enough to beat up on the bottom half of their conference but not quite good enough to beat the teams at the top of the Southland. Lamar has a player in Avery Sullivan who is likely going to average a double-double this year and they will be a competitive team as they always are.

236. Texas Arlington Mavericks

It remains a mistake when the Mavericks decided to part ways with former head coach Scott Cross. Texas-Arlington had a lot of success both nationally and in the Sun Belt under their former coach. The Mavericks are a middle of the pack Sun Belt team now and were put into rebuild mode when they didn’t need to be.

This year’s team does have some interesting pieces including the return of star David Azore. Azore is going to help ensure his team ends up in the middle of the Sun Belt pack. The roster just isn’t good enough to finish any higher than that.

235. Santa Clara Broncos

Santa Clara won 20 games last year for the first time under current head coach Herb Sendek. The Broncos had a potent offense that ranked 59th overall in the country. This year the Broncos return some of those scorers but perhaps the most important player to their success in Josip Vrankic.

Even though Santa Clara won 20 games a season they ended up in seventh place in the West Coast Conference. That looks to be about what will happen with the season overall this year as the West Coast Conference is loaded and the top 8 teams in the league are all going to beat up on each other.

234. Merrimack Warriors

What a transition year it was for the Warriors. They came right out in their first year and won the Northeast Conference. The Warriors were not able to compete in any postseason conference tournaments or the NCAA tournament because they are still in their transition phase to Division 1 basketball. Merrimack wins games the right way using their defense to set up their offense.

Expect some regression from this group though as they lost a lot of key pieces from last year’s team. Devin Jensen is back to show why he is the best shooter in the Northeast Conference. It would be a surprise if Merrimack won the conference, but they will still be a top tier team.

233. Monmouth Hawks

King Rice has done a great job at Monmouth and was on the verge of building a consistent winner in the MAAC before the Hawks fell on some hard times. Well, the Hawks are poised for another run of consistent 20-win seasons and putting scares into power schools.

This year may be one of the best the MAAC has ever had and Monmouth is going to be right in the mix at the top. Deion Hammond is an all-conference caliber player and Hawk fans are glad he decided to come back for his senior year.

232. Albany Great Danes

Albany has made a living with finding players to come play for them from Australia. Their NCAA tournament teams were filled with players from the country and they were all very good. This season the Great Danes needed to find good talent quickly so they scoured the grad transfer market and loaded up on some quality basketball players who are going to help Albany hopefully rise up the rankings.

Cameron Healy returns to lead his Great Danes squad against a good America East conference. The Great Danes are better but still finish middle of the pack in the league.

231. Montana State Bobcats

What head coach Danny Sprinkle has done with the Bobcats in a short time is incredible. Montana State has some recruiting limitations given the amount of money it costs to recruit and their location. Coach Sprinkle has found a ton of talent overseas and gotten them to play for Montana State and be successful.

The Bobcats are not there yet, but they are middle of the pack team in the Big Sky that no one wants to play. Junior forward Jubrile Belo gets to team up with transfer guard Xavier Bishop to form one of the better duos in the Big Sky at least on paper.