NCAA Basketball: Power rankings of all teams (363-1) for 2022-23 season

50. Maryland Terrapins- Last Season Ranking: 24

Conference: Big Ten

Maryland was in my preseason top 25 last year and they ended up with a 15-17 record and in the bottom tier of the Big Ten. The Terrapins never looked right all season, they had a talented roster but they could not put it all together. That cost coach Mark Turgeon his job, and Maryland started the year so disappointing that former coach Turgeon was fired 8 games into the season. That left the job to interim coach Danny Manning who won the other 10 games. The Terrapins wanted completely out of the Turgeon regime and went out and hired one of the better power five coaches over the last five years.

Kevin Willard who was most recently the coach at Seton Hall now takes over Maryland. Willard has now gotten his dream job and if he repeats the same success that he displayed at Seton Hall the fans in College Park will be happy. There is a large talent pool in the DMV and now coach Willard has access to it and needs to be able to win the recruiting battles in the DMV to get this program back to Terrapin standards.

Hakim Hart shot 70% from inside the arc a season ago to go along with 85% from the line and 33% from deep. The only problem is that Hart got nowhere near enough shots in the offense to truly make a difference. This year the guard should see a giant uptick in shots and given how Willard runs his offense players with the skills that Hart has have broken out under coach Willard. Hart will be a breakout player in the Big Ten.

49. Mississippi Rebels- Last Season Ranking: 50

Conference: SEC

Ole Miss didn’t fare well in the SEC last season and finished second to last in the league. Head coach Kermit Davis took the Rebels to the NCAA tournament in his first season as the coach at Ole Miss but has been trending down since then. Last year was the worst year he has experienced with the Rebels as he only won 13 games. Ole Miss had a hard time scoring last year and it was an efficiency problem. Ole Miss was okay on the defensive end, but it didn’t matter when they couldn’t score. Coach Davis and his team enter the year losing 9 out of their last 10 games and the Rebels have a new roster that has a lot of players who have a very interesting set of skills.

The Rebels have 4 defensive players of the year on their roster. Those 4 players were also the best players on their former teams. All of them are guys who stuff stat sheets and three of them are big men. The Rebels have a ton of talented frontcourt players who will score and dominate when they get the ball. This year could be a complete 180 in terms of win-loss record for the Rebels. If they all stay healthy, they have a chance to be a bubble team, but there is only one ball, and will everyone be okay with their minutes and roles?

Jayveous McKinnis is a transfer from Jackson State where he was a BOXTOROW HBCU All-American a three-time SWAC defensive player of the year. In his four years at Jackson State, the big man racked up 1,000 rebounds, had over 220 blocks, and scored over 1,000 points. It does not matter the league you play in that is utter domination.  During the season he recorded 9 blocks in a game twice during his senior season. He did it the first time against Drake and then again weeks later against Bethune Cookman. McKinnis may not be as dominant, but he is going to serve a big time role wherever he goes. He is an elite rebounder.

48. Xavier Musketeers- Last Season Ranking: 30

Conference: Big East

It’s Miller time at Xavier, Sean Miller who most recently coached at Arizona was hired as the new coach of the Musketeers. Xavier had an interesting year, they had tons of expectations that they did not live up to and ended up firing former head coach Travis Steele right before the NIT and hired his assistant Jonas Hayes. Hayes went on to coach the resurgent Musketeers to the NIT championship. Hayes then moved on to become the coach at Georgia State, so entered coach Miller.

Miller had good teams at Arizona and had a few seasons in which he was picked to win a National Championship. Miller was fired at Arizona not because of his inability to win, but because of his involvement in the FBI scandal into college basketball recruiting tactics. Coach Miller is a good enough coach that he will be able to get the Musketeers where they need to be, but in due time.

The roster this season is still going to be competitive and should finish in the middle of the Big East. The league is loaded with talent, and it will be a grind every night, but Xavier is going to build off of that NIT championship and end up on the bubble for the NCAA tournament.

Jack Nunge returns for the Musketeers and the big man is not your typical 7’0” player. Sure, some seven-footers can step out and knock down threes but Nunge took almost 100 threes last year and shot them at 37%. He also shot well over 60% from inside the arc and captured nine double-doubles. Coach Miller loves athletic big guys who can run all over the floor, Nunge fits that category and will be an all Big East player.

47. Seton Hall Pirates- Last Season Ranking: 49

Conference: Big East

The Pirates made the tournament again last year, that made it four out of the final six years for coach Kevin Willard. If the 2019-2020 season would have ended with the tournament, the Pirates would have made it that season as well. Coach Willard was able to use his success and turn that into his dream job at the University of Maryland in College Park. Seton Hall went out and hired a former Pirate player and one of the hottest names on the coaching market in Shaheen Holloway, who most recently led the charge for the Saint Peter’s Peacocks on their way to the Elite Eight. Holloway also got his dream job just like the former coach of Seton Hall.

Two weeks away from the season it has been stressful for the new coach as the Pirates currently only have seven healthy players, but once the roster gets up to speed and gets rolling, they are a tournament team. Seton Hall is going to look a little different this year, Holloway has his teams play slow. There will be a heavy emphasis on three-point shooting and defense. Expect the Pirates to look exactly like Saint Peter’s did with Holloway at the helm. The slow grind-it-out style will win games in the Big East especially if everyone is bought in.

KC Ndefo came with coach Holloway from Saint Peter’s and the big man is arguably the best defender in the country. Ndefo is going to be one of the most important pieces for the Pirates as he is familiar with the defense that Seton Hall is going to run and he is familiar with what coach Holloway expects and what he wants. The big man may be undersized at 6’7” but he can jump out of a gym and is a big body that won’t get pushed around. Players do not win three consecutive defensive player of the year awards for no reason.

To take this a step further Ndefo won the Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the year award and averaged about 3 blocks per game. Will there be players who put up better offensive numbers than Ndefo? Yes. will there be a player who means more to his team and makes more impact plays on the defensive end?

46. Rutgers Scarlet Knights- Last Season Ranking: 44

Conference: Big Ten

Steve Pikiell has brought the Rutgers program back from the dead. The Scarlet Knights were the worst power five program in the country and had not made the NCAA tournament since 1991. Once Pikiell took over the Scarlet Knights he quickly picked up the recruiting and built the team by using his physical and aggressive defensive style. Rutgers also started going back to its roots and recruiting the New York and New Jersey area. Opponents better bring it when they come to play Rutgers in Piscataway because the RAC is one of the best arenas in basketball when the Scarlet Knights are at home.

Rutgers is picked middle of the pack in the Big Ten this year, but with the momentum the program has it seems like they will outplay that ranking and are going to likely finish in the top half again. Rutgers is one of those teams who is going to win games because of their physical nature and their ability to prevent the other team from scoring. They are never going to be a masterpiece on the offensive end, but they play hard the entire game and wear people down.

Caleb McConnell was planning on playing professionally, did some workouts with NBA teams, and decided it was in his best interest to return to Rutgers.  Scarlet Knights fans were happy given that McConnell is the reigning Big Ten defensive player of the year, which is the first individual award a Rutgers player has won in the Big Ten. The guard will put the opponent’s best player on an island and make it 5 on 4 when they are on defense.

The fifth-year senior led the Big Ten in steals with 70. He is a great rebounder for a guard and was second of the team in assists. McConnell doesn’t score a ton, but he is not on the floor to score. He epitomizes what Rutgers has been under Pikiell. Hardnosed and relentless on the defensive end. McConnell must stay healthy for Rutgers to reach their goals if he gets hurt the defense will really suffer.

45. St. Mary’s Gaels- Last Season Ranking: 45

Conference: West Coast

Saint Mary’s has a passionate fan base and last year they killed me after writing this article when I said that the Gaels were a bad three-point shooting team and that would be the reason they would struggle if they were to struggle. Well, I was wrong, the Gaels were a decent three-point shooting team which made me eat my words.

The other thing is head coach Randy Bennett had one of the best teams in the loaded West Coast Conference and the great season culminated at the end of the year when Saint Mary’s dismantled Gonzaga in Moraga. It has been a long time since Gonzaga has been beaten that badly and it just so happened to be at the hands of their rivals.

In all honesty, the Gaels would not have needed to shoot threes well because their defense was relentless, aggressive, and caused problems for a lot of teams. Saint Mary’s made it almost impossible to get a shot off on the offensive end and they never let teams take a three. Even teams who liked to run like San Francisco and Gonzaga found it terribly hard to get out in transition or even get a good look at the basket. When they were on defense it was a thing of beauty to watch. The Gaels have a good portion of their roster back this year and any more coach Bennett and the Gaels should get the benefit of the doubt as they are consistently a top team in the WCC.

Logan Johnson is a player that non-Gaels fans hate but Gaels fans love. Why?  Johnson is one of those guys who is like a gnat he gets into you on defense, rarely fouls and then when you think you have him stopped on the offensive end he will drive to the lane and make a tough contested bucket. He is the epitome of every Saint Mary’s guard over the last 10 years. He plays hard, isn’t great at anything, but good at everything. He has been playing in Moraga for a long time and coach Bennett loves him. Johnson will finally lead the Gaels in scoring this year.

44. Providence Friars- Last Season Ranking: 70

Conference: Big East

The Friars were picked to finish in the middle of the Big East last year and be a bubble team. What happened next is history. History for the Providence program and head coach Ed Cooley. The Friars won the Big East regular season for the first time ever. The Friars were also awarded a four seed in the NCAA tournament which was the highest seed they have ever received. Coach Cooley was rewarded for the year as well. Coach Cooley was named the National Coach of the Year, as well as the Coach of the Year in the Big East and was named was the Coach of the Year according to the Sporting News and USBWA.

It doesn’t stop here for Providence; the Friars made a run to the Sweet 16, which was their first since 1997, or the last 25 years. Providence played great defense last year and they knew how to finish games. The majority of their games were close, and it was the plays made and shots hit down the stretch for the Friars that was the difference most nights.

That is the result of an extremely old team. Providence had six seniors and two juniors in their rotation every night and all of them had played a ton of basketball over their careers. That helps in games down the stretch. Usually, when you are that old, the next season is a slight rebuild because of graduation. This season some of the older players are going to use their Covid years and the Friars stayed old which is going to lead to good things.

Jared Bynum won the Big East Sixth Man of the Year award, and he is coming back to Providence for his final Covid year. Bynum is one of the best three-point shooters in the country, and he carries a 2 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Coach Cooley trusts him to run the defense and make sure the guys are where they need to be on offense and defense. The Friars’ point guard is one of the best guards in a guard-heavy league. Bynum is going to win more awards this year.

43. Notre Dame Fighting Irish- Last Season Ranking: 56

Conference: ACC

We all knew it was just a matter of time until Mike Brey got Notre Dame back to the tournament. Under coach Brey when the Irish make the NCAA tournament, they usually stick around awhile which is what happened last season when Notre Dame made the First Four, won that game, and then won the First Round game before falling to Texas Tech in the second round. The Irish were one of the oldest and experienced teams in the country.

That team knew how to play the Notre Dame brand of basketball. Shoot threes, take efficient shots inside the paint, and never turn the ball over. That is always going to be a recipe for success for almost every team. I did think the Irish would make the tournament a season ago, but they surprised me by finishing second in the ACC standings. Even if you thought that Notre Dame was a tournament team no one could have predicted that. The whole narrative last year was the ACC was down but the conference had two final four teams, a team made the elite eight and then the Irish made the round of 32. Notre Dame was able to stay old and get itself into a good position to make the tournament again this year. The Irish are a top-tier team in the ACC again this year until they show me otherwise.

Dane Goodwin does not need much space to get his shot off, and if he does get it off you better hope it doesn’t go in. The guard shot over 50% from the floor overall and was a 46% shooter from long range. That number will play anywhere. The Irish are full of great shooters and there are few better in the country and he is arguably the best shooter in the ACC. Goodwin is going to carry the offense again this year as he is in his fifth year in the program for coach Brey.

42. Missouri Tigers- Last Season Ranking: 78

Conference: SEC

The Tigers made a surprise run to the NCAA tournament in the 2020-2021 seasons and then all the key players from that team decided to transfer to another school leaving coach Cuonzo Martin scrambling and trying to figure out offense. Coach Martin didn’t have a very good year as Missouri couldn’t score and they did not have their usual defensive prowess. That led Missouri to make a change and hire one of the best young coaches in college.

Dennis Gates takes over for the Tigers after a successful stint at Cleveland State. Gates loves to shoot threes on offense and runs a very aggressive no middles defense that he runs to perfection. He consistently had the top defense in the Horizon League and one of the best defenses in the country. Gates only scratched the surface of how good he could be as a coach at Cleveland State. At Missouri, he is going to have access to recruits he never would have gotten before in the Horizon league. The Tigers have a team that is made up of a lot of former Horizon league players who won awards. The team has former leading scorers, former defensive player of the year, and a lot of shooting.

D’Moi Hodge followed coach Gates to Missouri from Cleveland State. The guard was the reigning defensive player of the year in the Horizon League. The guard also led the Vikings in scoring with 15 points per game. Hodge shot a high percentage from the field and 34% from three. He won’t be the best three-point shooter on the team but he makes them when they count and he will still be able to score at ease in the SEC. He finished in the top 20 nationally in steals which led to easy baskets in transition. Hodge is going to lead Missouri in most categories.

41. LSU Tigers- Last Season Ranking: 43

Conference: SEC

Everyone has heard Will Wade on tape blatantly taking money from a booster. He was the main subject in the huge FBI investigation over the recruiting practices in College Basketball. In a way Wade did some good in getting that out in the forefront and making it easier to pass NIL deals. He also broke a ton of rules and LSU had no choice but to fire him right before the NCAA tournament last year. LSU didn’t look right in that game and wound up losing to Iowa State.

To replace former coach Wade, the Tigers brought in Matt McMahon who turned Murray State into a mid-major power in NCAA basketball. Then after that, almost the entire LSU roster transferred to other schools and coach McMahon brought in the best players from Murray State to start to fill out this roster. It may take McMahon a few seasons to start playing his brand of up-tempo, ton of three style basketball successfully, but LSU does not lack talent this year. Don’t be surprised if they wind up on the bubble.

KJ Williams could have started for most power five teams last year. He decided to stay at Murray State and that decision was a good one. The big man was the Ohio Valley Player of the Year, led the league in scoring, ranked in the top 50 in the country in scoring, rebounding, and field goal percentage. The big man is not shy, and he will pull and bury a three while taking the ball up the court and the next possession he will go into his bag and pull out his post moves.

It doesn’t hurt that he has played in coach McMahon’s system for four years and knows exactly where to be and when to expect the ball. Williams is good enough to carry this team to the tournament and is going to likely land on the all conference team this year.