NCAA Basketball: Most surprising teams and players for 2021-22 season

Mar 9, 2021; Greensboro, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Daivien Williamson (4) passes against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first round of the 2021 ACC men's basketball tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports /

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NCAA Basketball Luka Brajkovic Davidson Wildcats (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

Top Surprising Teams

Davidson: (10-2)

The Wildcats need just three victories to match last season’s total. Davidson lost all-A-10 guard Kellen Grady and two other key players in the offseason from a team that went 13-9 and 7-4 in A-10. As a result, the Wildcats were projected to finish mid-pack in the conference.

6-7 guard Hyunjung Lee has continued his development while senior guard Michael Jones has taken a giant leap this year, and Michigan State transfer Foster Loyer has shot the lights out, draining 3.2 3-pointers a game. The Wildcats, making 10 treys a game at a 42.4% clip, have a huge win over Alabama and two good neutral site losses. They have the conference’s highest Net ranking at 44.

Wake Forest (11-2)

Wake (1-1 ACC) already has five more victories than they had last year, and the Deacs need just three more wins to assure themselves of the second-highest win total since picking up 19 wins in 2016-17. Wake Forest is having success thanks to an offense that currently ranks 24th in the country in field goal percentage (0.488) and 26th in the country in points per game (81.2).

The Demon Deacons averaged 66.4 points while shooting 41% from the field a year ago. Wake has the second-highest NET ranking in the ACC at 37 though the Demon Deacs are just 1-1 in Quad I games.

Minnesota (10-2)

Minnesota (1-1 Big Ten) disappointed last year as the Golden Gophers went 14-15 after being ranked as high as No. 16 in the AP poll in Richard Pitino’s final season. The Gophers are off to an excellent start for first-year coach Ben Johnson despite returning less than 10% of their scoring and 85% of the minutes from a year ago. However, they are a very experienced team, with their top seven players being upperclassmen.

George Washington transfer Jamison Battle leads the way along with guard Payton Willis, who returns after playing one season at the College of Charleston. The Gophers are 2-1 in Quad I games with victories over Mississippi State and Michigan, while the loss was to Michigan State.

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