NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early top-25 mid-major rankings for 2021-22

NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early top-25 mid-major rankings for 2021-22 season

Jan 4, 2021; San Diego, CA, USA; Colorado State Rams forward James Moors (10) is congratulated by guard Isaiah Rivera (23) and guard David Roddy (21) against the San Diego State Aztecs during the second half at Viejas Arena. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /

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NCAA Basketball Jason Preston Ohio Bobcats (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images) /

When it came to the past season, all 357 NCAA Basketball programs were impacted by the covid-19 pandemic. However, mid-majors in particular had to deal with different kinds of problems. Things like the lack of scheduling opportunities affected their resumes for Bracketology, the reduced timeline and inequality of testing supplies affected the players, and not having fans or “buy game” opportunities affected the collected bottom-lines.

Yet despite all the adversity these smaller programs faced, they had great success in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. 15-seeded Oral Roberts became this year’s “Cinderella” after making the Sweet 16, while Abilene Christian got a huge upset win over Texas. Loyola-Chicago defeated No. 1 seed Illinois in a high-profile battle. and of course, No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga made it to the national title game unbeaten and was a game away from a historic campaign.

Now we’re in the offseason and looking ahead towards the 2021-22 season and two different aspects have completely thrown things up in the air. The first being that all players have been given an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA, with many opting to do so far. And the second is the transfer rule being altered, with players now being able to switch teams once without having to sit out and receive a waiver.

So with thousands of player transactions, which mid-major programs look the best heading into the 2021-22 season? Here’s an early look at the top-25 programs, excluding anyone from the traditional power five conferences, along with the Big East and AAC.

25. Ohio Bobcats

2020-21 season record: 17-8 (9-5 in MAC)

The MAC representative in the NCAA Tournament pulled off a nice upset against Virginia, thanks in part due to star point guard Jason Preston, the only player in the country that averaged at least 15.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, and 7.0 apg last season. He’s still in the NBA Draft process but could very well return.

If that happens, Ohio will be among the favorites to win the league again. The return of bigs Dwight Wilson and Bennett Vander Plas will have an impact, along with the addition of Xavier transfer Ben Carter. If guards Lunden McDay and Mark Sears can continue to improve alongside Preston then the Bobcats will be back in the Big Dance.

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