In NCAA Basketball basketball, predicting what every team’s season will look like in October is impossible. Typically, it is difficult to even get close to most teams. With that being said, since 2018, six teams have started outside the top 100 of KenPom‘s preseason rankings and have gotten an at-large bid (Heat Check CBB).
Those teams were North Carolina State (2018), Belmont and VCU (2019), Drake (2021), and Iowa and Wyoming (2022). Recent history tells us that it is more than likely to happen again, and a couple of teams have a good shot.
Minnesota (109)
Year one of the Ben Johnson era went pretty much how most people expected. The Gophers finished one game below .500, 6-14 in the Big Ten, and 109 in KenPom. Minnesota begins the year in the exact same spot they finished in 2021-22, and with the roster improvements they made, their 109 ranking feels low.
Minnesota will return multiple impact players and that includes preseason all-Big Ten first-team player Jamison Battle. Battle averaged 17.5 points per game last season and shot an efficient 36.6% from three.
Johnson also decided to improve the roster through the transfer portal. First, he went and got a true point guard in Ta’Lon Cooper. Cooper is a do-it-all guard that transferred in from Morehead State after posting nine points and six assists per game there last season. Along with Cooper, Minnesota also added to the front court through the portal by getting Minnesota native Dawson Garcia. Garcia is a two-time transfer that had a very good freshman season before having a rough stint at UNC. He’ll look to get his numbers back on track in a better situation.
Minnesota will be young, but even without Parker Fox, they should have some depth in the front court with Pharrel Payne and Treyton Thompson. Expect Braeden Carrington to have a big role as well. Carrington played against high-level competition in high school and is underrated as a recruit. He should be ready to get significant minutes and will improve as the year goes on.