NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 358 D-I programs for 2021-22 season

70. Providence Friars – Last Season Ranking: 22

Conference: Big East

When you do preseason rankings, you win some and you lose some. Last season I had the Friars as a preseason top 25 team. Given what they had returning and how they had played during the 2019-2020 season it was a reasonable expectation. Providence ended up at 13-13 and finished middle-of-the-pack in the Big East.

The main reason is that the Friars were dreadful on offense they didn’t shoot a good percentage from the floor and they didn’t move the ball much which meant a lot of one on one basketball. Head Coach Ed Cooley had done a nice job with Providence to date, but last season left a lot to be desired. The Friars should be better this year as last year was a lot of underachieving, but it was also a weird year based on the Covid year and no fans.

The Dunkin Donuts center is a great arena to play in and when it gets rocking it helps Providence out immensely. The Friars likely finish in the middle of the pack in the Big East and miss the tournament. Nate Watson comes back for his last year and he has been a very productive big man for Providence and head coach Ed Cooley.

69. Iowa Hawkeyes – Last Season Ranking: 11

Conference: Big Ten

Iowa entered last season as a trendy pick to make a final four and win the Big Ten outright and it had to do with a lot of things but mainly it was due to Iowa having the preseason Wooden award winner on their roster and one of the best big shot makers in the world at the guard position. The Hawkeyes had four guys all shoot 40% or better last year from deep, which is incredible. Iowa under head coach Fran McCaffery has always played fast and made a ton of threes.

In past seasons their goal was to outscore everyone, and the defense will come later. The lack of defense was always what held them back. A season ago they did it get figured out from a defensive standpoint and that is why so many thought this was the year for them to make a long run. They got beaten by a great Oregon team in the second round of the tournament.

Heading into this season it is going to be a rebuilding year for Iowa and they are picked to finish in the bottom of the middle tier teams in the Big Ten. They have one proven three-point shooter, and two returning starters.  There are going to have to be a lot of guys who step up and some of them are going to be freshmen.

Jordan Bohannon takes 73% of his shots from beyond the arc over his career. If you look at the numbers, he isn’t an efficient shooter from inside the arc. The problem is that Bohannon decides to make all of his shots when the game is on the line. He has made a ton of huge shots for Iowa over his career and he is going to have to make a ton of them next year if Iowa wants to succeed.

68. Stanford Cardinal – Last Season Ranking: 43

Conference: Pac 12

Jerod Haase had his best-recruiting class since he has been at Stanford, and many people predicted them to make the NCAA tournament. The Cardinal were well on their way to making the NCAA tournament until they lost their last five games of the season and some of those were really bad losses. Hasse is still looking for his first NCAA tournament at Stanford and the Cardinal lost a ton of talent in the offseason.

The Cardinal play slow and they don’t shoot the ball particularly well from anywhere on the floor. The numbers last year were with a dominant big man, that big man is no longer on campus and Stanford is going to have to work hard to replace him. The Cardinal lost a lot more talent than just their big man, they lost their most talented player to the NBA, and the point guard transferred.

It is going to be a story to follow for the Cardinal. Who will fill in those roles and how will those players do in those roles? The Cardinal are going to have relied on two good freshmen from their top 20 recruiting class to help this team succeed.

Isa Silva is a true freshman who is likely going to get the first crack at running the offense. Silva can score in bunches and is super athletic. He may have some growing pains like all freshmen but if he transitions quickly then Stanford could be a lot better.

67. Loyola Marymount Lions – Last Season Ranking: 121

Conference: West Coast

The West Coast Conference has been starving for someone to challenge the big three and give them a run. Loyola Marymount is going to be up to that challenge this year. Obviously, it is going to be a race for second place in the league but the Lions have the best team they have had in quite some time. Head coach Stan Johnson plays extremely slow and rarely shoots threes. It will be very interesting to see if coach Johnson speeds it up this year with all the talent he is going to have.

Loyola Marymount has a large part of their roster returning from the third-place conference finish a season ago. That roster has been bolstered by some high-quality transfers and one redshirt freshman who has an extremely high ceiling. The Lions have two players who could average 20 points per game this season. Even though the Lions play slow they get fouled a ton and spend a ton of time at the line. Eli Scott returns for his fifth season at Loyola Marymount and he will likely be a first-team all-conference player.

66. Arizona State Sun Devils – Last Season Ranking: 21

Conference: Pac 12

Arizona State was one of those teams who found me scratching my head every time they played. They had tons of talent a season ago and couldn’t defend anyone. All of this was compounded by a long Covid pause and a stretch in which they lost 7 out of 8 games. Head coach Bobby Hurley had Arizona State playing very good basketball since he had been the head coach and he had a great recruiting class last year.

This year he has another great recruiting class and he has two elite scorers that he was able to get signed in the transfer portal. It’s hard to accurately predict how good the Sun Devils will be. Coach Hurley has done a great job with his teams that don’t have many expectations and those teams who have expectations have not performed well. The Sun Devils likely finish middle of the pack and likely don’t make the tournament again. If Arizona State comes together, they are going to have plenty of opportunities to make the tournament. Still don’t think they have enough to get there but they should be better.

Marreon Jackson was the MAC player of the year in 2020-2021. He is going to be a 2,000-point scorer and he is very eager to lead the Sun Devils. He gets buckets and can get them in a lot of ways. With a good season, he will be on the All-Conference squad.

65. Drake Bulldogs – Last Season Ranking: 156

Conference: Missouri Valley

Drake was the team that I never saw coming last year. The Bulldogs started out the year 18-0 before finally losing and entered the NCAA tournament at 25-4. Drake was a great defensive team and they were a good offensive team. On offense they were top 20 in the country in overall efficiency, they were a good shooting team from deep and top 50 overall shooting from inside the arc.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the Bulldogs from a season was their ability to win many different types of games. Drake played a grind-it-out style they were physical underneath the basket and nothing was ever easy. That enabled Drake to win close games and win games that were going to be blowouts. Those frontcourt pieces return this year and Drake should be just as physical.

The Bulldogs did lose their best player from a season ago, but they have more than enough pieces to make up for it. Head coach Darian DeVries is building something special in Des Moines. ShanQuan Hemphill is a difference-maker for Drake, when he is on the floor they are at their best.

64. SMU Mustangs – Last Season Ranking: 85

Conference: American Athletic

The Mustangs are the team that I am going to be higher on this year than I should be. They have so many intriguing pieces this year and may have the best backcourt in the American and one of the best backcourts in the country. Head coach Tim Jankovich plays fast and lets his team play free. SMU takes an average amount of three and they do make a lot of the ones they take. The Mustangs shoot a very high percentage and are going to rebound and protect the rim. They are good team and are going if everyone stays healthy, they are going to be a force in the American.

SMU does have some pieces that are going to have to get used to being a role player, they have four players who are used to having the ball and scoring and some of them are going to have to take a backseat some games to allow the hot hand to score. If the Mustangs are clicking, coach Jankovich may be looking at one of the best offenses in the country every night. SMU is going to be a bubble team all year and may even slide into the rankings after a few weeks.

Kendric Davis averaged 20 points per game last year and eight assists. He is the only player in the country to lead his league in points and assists. Davis is going to have his name in the mix for American player of the year.

63. Richmond Spiders – Last Season Ranking: 20

Conference: Atlantic 10

Head coach Chris Mooney is still at Richmond and every year they seem to have expectations they never live up to them. I feel hard-pressed to say he isn’t a great coach, but he just has come on some hard luck. Last season before the season even started the Spiders lost one of their best players for the year with a knee injury. Then Richmond beat Kentucky and played well through the non-conference, and after beating Kentucky the expectations were never higher. Then once the Atlantic 10 conference came Richmond struggled.

The Spiders have their whole team back from last year and they have expectations again. Many should say to temper the expectation because of their coach and because of the way the season ended last year. The Spiders are going to be a dangerous team in the Atlantic 10 and if they all come together and they stay healthy this could finally be the year that coach Mooney gets his team back to the tournament. Richmond has a lot of weapons on offense and so many guys can hurt you in different ways. The Spiders being one of the oldest teams in the country is going to help a lot as well.

Grant Golden is the big man for the Spiders and he is one of the most efficient players in the country. He shot almost 60% from the floor last year. He is also a good rebounder, stretches the floor, and was second on the team in assists. When Golden plays well Richmond is a much better team.

62. Clemson Tigers – Last Season Ranking: 84

Conference: ACC

The Tigers made the NCAA tournament a season ago and had one of the worst offenses in the country a season ago. The Tigers also had one of the best defenses in the country a season ago and they rode that defense to the NCAA tournament. Clemson can make the NCAA tournament again this year and head coach Brad Brownell knew that in order to do that he was going to have to bolster the offense and the best way to do that was to scour the transfer market.

They were horribly inefficient shooting just 41% from the floor last year. Surprisingly, the guards on the team were good shooters and should continue to be that again it was just the interior scoring and the shot selection that was not great. The Tigers return those guards and most of their rotational players as they attempt to make a second consecutive NCAA tournament.

Clemson will finish in the middle-of-the-pack in the league. Al-Amir Dawes has a ton of skill and is going to take a huge leap this year to lead Clemson.

61. UCF Knights – Last Season Ranking: 131

Conference: American Athletic

Central Florida did not start the season off well at all as they began the year losing 5 of their first 9 games. They ended the year winning 7 of their last 10 to get the record a little more respectable. Johnny Dawkins has done a great job with the Knights as he has been able to stockpile this team with talent year after year.

Central Florida has always been good on the defensive end, and it is almost a signature of the Knights every year. They don’t do anything flashy on offense and at times the offense gets a little clunky, but it is good enough to win most games. Every team is going to remember playing Central Florida because of the physical way they play. The Knights have one of the best shot blockers in the country on the roster, but they don’t rebound the ball all that well.

If they really want to get back to the NCAA tournament, they need to rebound the ball. CJ Walker is primed for a breakout and could be one of the best defensive players in the American.