Belmont Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for the Bruins

JACKSONVILLE, FL - MARCH 21: Nick Muszynski #33 of the Belmont Bruins tries to get around Jalen Smith #25 of the Maryland Terrapins during the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on March 21, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

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Belmont Basketball (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images) /

You can set your clocks by Belmont basketball. The Bruins will win over 20 games, finish no worse than second in the Ohio Valley Conference, graduate players, and somehow get shafted by the NCAA.

Belmont has posted sixteen straight seasons of 19 or more victories while averaging 24 per season. They have won 12 regular season titles, eight postseason tournament trophies and have qualified for nine NCAA Tournaments.

While under the leadership of legendary coach Rick Byrd they carried a standard of excellence that third-year coach Casey Alexander has maintained. Alexander was a standout guard during his playing career in Music City. He is the program leader in steals and is third in assists.

After posting outstanding seasons at nearby Lipscomb, he was the logical choice to replace the retiring Byrd after the 2019 season. Two straight 26-win seasons have opened the ‘Alexander Era’ and Belmont continues to lead the OVC in grade-point-average and precision offense.

Belmont has posted twenty-one straight seasons with a team GPA of at least 3.0. The basketball program recruits true student-athletes and holds them to a high academic standard. Guard Luke Smith was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American team.

There’s plenty of optimism and expectations for the Bruins coming into the 2021-22 season. They had no seniors on last year’s roster and returns everyone from the core rotation. This may be the last season for star duo, Grayson Murphy and Nick Muszynski so they’ll have to make it count. But will they be postseason bound?