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

360. Chicago State Cougars – Last Season Ranking: 358

Conference: Independent

Chicago State won 7 games a season ago, and to the casual fan they would still think it wasn’t a great season. However, when you have been as bad as the Cougars have been for as long as they have been, it was a success. Head coach Gerald Gilliam finally looks like a coach who is going to stick for a while and if the upward trend continues within the program, the Cougars could finally reach new heights.

Chicago State was still one of the worst offensive teams in the country last year, but the 7 wins was the most they have had since 2014-2015, and the 3 wins in the WAC, which included a win over New Mexico State, were more than the Cougars have had in the last six seasons combined, as mentioned all in all a success. Sophomore star Jahsean Corbett returns hoping to build off his 13 points per game campaign from a season ago. The Cougars’ plan is to leave the WAC and they are currently a Division 1 Independent.

359. Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions – Last Season Ranking: 355

Conference: SWAC

The Golden Lions have fallen on some hard times over the last four seasons. While Arkansas Pine Bluff doesn’t have any basketball history to speak of, they were still competitive in the SWAC. That has not been the case over the last handful of years as they have been a perennial bottom feeder in the conference. Head coach Solomon Bozeman enters his second season as the head coach of the Golden Lions and improved the win total by 3 games a season ago.

This year one of the best players in Arkansas Pine Bluff history returns from his lone season at SIU Edwardsville. Shaun Doss comes back to lead this offense and is a guy who can change the fortunes of this team.

358. IUPUI Jaguars – Last Season Ranking: 340

Conference: Horizon League

The mighty 6. That is how many players finished the year on the IUPUI roster at the end of the 2021-2022 season. It was a mess for IUPUI all season long and this year the Jaguars are breaking in a whole new roster. IUPUI couldn’t score last year as they averaged less than 53 points per game, won three games all year long and the second year of former IUPUI star Matt Crenshaw’s tenure everyone hopes goes much better than the last.

This year doesn’t look to be that much better as the Jaguars do not have a sure thing on offense on their entire roster, no one on this roster has played together before and the Horizon league is competitive. IUPUI will have to rely on unproven transfers to hopefully pick up their offense. Jlynn Counter has the highest ceiling of all the transfers.

357. Eastern Illinois Panthers – Last Season Ranking: 337

Conference: Ohio Valley

The Panthers were a mess on the offensive side of the ball a season ago. Head coach Marty Simmons has proven he can win as he was successful at Evansville, but it was tough to have any semblance of an offense when your team averages 16 turnovers per game. They also played at the second-slowest pace in the country last year and only got up 51 shots per game.

Eastern Illinois did not have a single player average double-digit points last season and they do not have a lot of that roster returning from a year ago. All of that was only good for 56 points per game, which was second-worst in the country. Coach Simmons is going to try and improve on his brutal first year. Rodolfo Bolis is a very intriguing player who has a ton of potential. Eastern Illinois is still the worst team in the Ohio Valley.

356. Incarnate Word Cardinals – Last Season Ranking: 348

Conference: Southland

It is hard to know what to expect out of Incarnate Word, they play at one of the slowest paces in the country and like to keep their games low scoring. They also have a young roster. It is hard to think that they will shoot a worse percentage from the floor than they did last year. They only shot 41% from the floor as a team. They were dreadful from inside the arc, and the Cardinals shot 35% from downtown a season ago.

Coach Carson Cunningham is going to play a slow deliberate offense that looks for three-point shots. The Cardinals take a lot of threes and if they get hot from downtown can have a decent season. As of now, it appears that Incarnate Word is a bottom-tier Southland team. Josh Morgan returns to lead this offense.

355. Florida A&M Rattlers – Last Season Ranking: 291

Conference: SWAC

FAMU was one of the oldest teams in the country a season ago and the Rattlers also had the SWAC player of the year on that team. That was good enough for FAMU to finish in the top 4 of the conference last year. What a difference a year makes for the Rattlers as they head into the year with a brand new team as FAMU lost all five starters and most of the production from last year.

The SWAC is always a league that favors those teams who are old and have experience. Florida A&M is not that this year. The Rattlers have a lot of JUCO players on their roster and have a ton of question marks. They are still good enough to finish out of last place, but they are still a bottom tier team in the SWAC. Jaylen Bates has an extremely high ceiling in his first year in the Rattlers program from Gaston College.

354. Fairleigh Dickinson Knights – Last Season Ranking: 312

Conference: Northeast

Greg Herenda was a good coach at his time with the Knights, as he guided them to two NCAA tournaments but the last two seasons were not great and it was time for a change. Enter new head coach Tobin Anderson who comes to Fairleigh Dickinson from the Division II ranks. Coach Anderson built St. Thomas Aquinas into a perennial power in their conference and the Knights are hoping he can do the same with them. Fairleigh Dickinson is in a full on rebuild and they have a lot of question marks on their roster.

Fairleigh Dickinson did fill the roster with the best of the St. Thomas Aquinas roster and a lot of JUCO transfers for the first year. DeMetre Roberts was one of the best players to play at St Thomas Aquinas under coach Anderson and now he comes to Teaneck to help the Knights try to get back to prominence.

353. Stonehill College Skyhawks – Last Season Ranking: N/A

Conference: Northeast

Another university outside of Boston enters the Division 1 ranks. Stonehill enters a conference in the NEC that they are going to be competitive in and should not have much of a discrepancy in talent to start off.

Do not expect the Skyhawks to light the scoreboards on fire as they play slow. Last season they averaged under 70 points per game but did have a player in Andrew Sims who averaged 16 points per game, and they are going to rely on him to carry the offense this season.

352. Maine Black Bears – Last Season Ranking: 336

Conference: America East

Maine has never been a good basketball program, and it is terribly hard to recruit talent to Orono, Maine. The Black Bears do have some new hope within the program with a new coach in Chris Markwood. The new head man for Maine has his work cut out for him, as a team who seems to always be in a forever rebuild in the America East doesn’t have much coming back from their previous rosters.

The Black Bears did not have a single player average double digit points and they lost their best player to injury 13 games into the season. Lechaun Duhart is the best player and the go to player, but he is extremely inefficient from the floor but is going to get the ball a lot. Maine will finish in the bottom of the America East again.

351. Northwestern State Demons – Last Season Ranking: 338

Conference: Southland

The Demons are entering a new era as their new head coach Corey Gipson enters his first season as the head coach of the Northwestern State basketball program. Gipson has the reputation of being a recruiter and developer and that is something that the Northwestern State program is going to need as they are going through a full on rebuild right now. The Demons do not have much returning from the 9 win team a season ago but that is part of the rebuild and a new coach.

Northwestern State is in a winnable league, and they can finish in the middle of the league as the bottom of the league is so bad. Hansel Enmanuel the one-armed player who is a YouTube viral sensation plays for the Demons. Don’t count him out because he has one arm, he can play.

350. Idaho Vandals – Last Season Ranking: 352

Conference: Big Sky

Idaho saw vast improvement in year three under current head coach Zac Claus. The Vandals have yet to win double digit games under Claus and it all stems from their inability to defend anyone. They were one of the worst defensive teams in the country again last year, but they were more competitive as they were scoring 73 a game.

The other thing that was vastly improved was the ability of Idaho to shoot the ball from deep. The Vandals were one of the best three-point teams shooting in the country a season ago. This year it remains to be seen if coach Claus has done anything to improve the defense for the Vandals, but he did go out and get an elite scorer at the Division II level in Divant’e Moffitt.

349. Lindenwood Lions – Last Season Ranking: N/A

Conference: Ohio Valley

Lindenwood is in Saint Charles, Missouri and they have only been a member of the NCAA since 2011, but this is their first season as a member of Division 1. Their first year on the big circuit may show some growing pains. The Lions have not had a winning season since 2016-2017 and their two top scorers are gone.

Sure, the Ohio Valley lost their three top teams, but it still may be a struggle for Lindenwood to find their footing. They will finish in the bottom half of this league, especially if they continue to play slow and shoot under 45% from the floor. Kevin Caldwell Jr. will likely lead the team in scoring and is a good distributor of the ball as he averaged over 5 assists per game a season ago.

348. Green Bay Phoenix – Last Season Ranking: 318

Conference: Horizon League

Green Bay made the decision to part with former coach Linc Darner three seasons ago and it has not gone well with current head coach Will Ryan. I understand the sentiment especially when you have the chance to hire a legendary coach’s son. However, this could also be a situation of knowing that the grass isn’t always greener.

Heading into this season the Phoenix may be one of the worst teams in the country and far and away the worst team in the Horizon League. They have almost no one returning from last years team that won 5 games. Green Bay enters the year without a senior and 3 returning contributors from last season. Cade Meyer returns for his junior season and is going to get a much bigger share of the offense than he has ever had.

347. Hartford Hawks – Last Season Ranking: 217

Conference: Independent

What the Athletic Department at the University of Hartford has done to this university is outrageous. It happened almost three years ago now and it still bothers me. Those of you that don’t know, the Board of Directors at Hartford have decided it would be in the best interest of the school to stop awarding athletic scholarships at the start of this season, while the Hawks transition to Division III.

Hartford was also supposed to play one last season in the America East before leaving Division 1, but that timeline got sped up as well and the Hawks are now playing this season as a Division 1 Independent. No tournament for Hartford this year, likely not many wins, and they are going to leave us with a bad taste in our mouth as to how this situation was handled. Head coach John Gallagher is one of the good guys in the game, he does things the right way and treats everyone he comes across with respect. We will miss you Hartford it has been quite a ride.

Jared Kimbrough is entering his second year in the program, and he didn’t have much success in 20 minutes a night last year. This year his role is going to change as he is the leader of this team both on and off the court, it may be a breakout year for Kimbrough.

346. Idaho State Bengals- Last Season Ranking: 192

Conference: Big Sky

I would venture a guess that unless you are a fan of the Bengals or your favorite team played them, that many of us have no watched a single minute of an Idaho State basketball game. That isn’t a slight to the program at all. It just is the reality of how the sport is broadcast and how the popular teams are the ones who get all the air time. Idaho State was a team I was higher than I should have been last year and just shows how wacky that Covid year was.

The Bengals are coached by Ryan Looney who enters his fourth year as the coach of the Bengals. Looney was a great Division II and NAIA coach but with recruiting limitations and budgets for mid major schools he has not found the same success at the division 1 level. Idaho State was terrible on the offensive end last year and they do not appear to be much better this year and look well on their way to another long season in Pocatello.

The Bengals frontcourt is the strength of this team. The big men better be ready as they are going to get the ball every chance they get. Brayden Parker is 6’8” and 250lbs. He is a big guy underneath, and he isn’t afraid to get physical underneath the basket. Parker shot almost 60% from the floor last year and with an offense that operates at a snail’s pace he should get the ball a lot.

345. South Carolina State Bulldogs- Last Season Ranking: 354

Conference: MEAC

The Bulldogs were one of the most improved teams in the country a season ago. They went from one win in 2021 to 15 wins last year and were one game under .500 for the season. Quite the improvement from the year before. So why am I so low on them going into this year?  They are going through their third coach in three years as former coach Tony Madlock left for Alabama State and with him, he took his best player, his son TJ Madlock.

South Carolina State is now coached by former West Virginia assistant Erik Martin, and he is going to have a rebuild project on his hands as the roster lost a lot of transfers. Cameron Jones does return to lead the offense and hope to keep South Carolina State competitive in the MEAC.

344. Alabama

State Hornets- Last Season Ranking: 331

Conference: SWAC

The Hornets were in desperate need of a new face to lead the program. Former NBA player Mo Williams didn’t work out so now bring in former South Carolina State head coach Tony Madlock. Madlock is known for being a program builder and if he can replicate the success, he had last season at South Carolina State, Alabama State will be in a good spot. Like with all coaching changes Alabama State did experience a mass exodus of players. Coach Madlock is a good recruiter and has filled this team with talent including his son TJ Madlock. The younger Madlock was the MEAC player of the year a season ago and should be one of the favorites for the SWAC player of the year.

343. St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers- Last Season Ranking: 325

Conference: Northeast

The Terriers have been a Division 1 team for 103 seasons and have never made the NCAA tournament. St. Francis Brooklyn has had teams that have had higher expectations, but they have never been able to live up to them. This year the Terriers are likely going to struggle inside the NEC but could have enough veteran leadership to finish in the middle of the pack in the conference. They likely finish in the bottom of the league though. St. Francis Brooklyn plays fast but is inefficient from the floor, they rarely move the ball and like to run a lot of isolation basketball. That doesn’t usually work and starts to be deliberate of an offense even if you do play fast. Rob Higgins returns with the keys to the offense for this experienced group.

342. Houston Christian Huskies- Last Season Ranking: 349

Conference: Southland

The Huskies had their best season in a long time last year and Houston Baptist was hoping to bring back their core and take a shot at the top of the Southland, then in the offseason best player and team leader Darius Lee was shot and killed. The Huskies are going to be playing this year with heavy hearts as they mourn the loss of their teammate. Houston Christian showed signs of life on both the offensive and defensive ends last year and it seemed their coach found something as the year went on.

The Southland Conference is winnable, and it seems a team comes out of nowhere to win it every year so why not the Huskies. They have the talent of a lower tier team in the league but when a team is motivated and playing towards something like the Huskies are for Lee anything can happen. Brycen Long is a deadly three point shooter and he is going to have to take his game to the next level for Houston Christian this season.

341. Evansville Purple Aces- Last Season Ranking: 169

Conference: Missouri Valley

The Todd Lickliter era is going to be a bad one for the Purple Aces. Lickliter took over after former coach Walter McCarty was relieved of his duties as a coach. Since McCarty was let go the Evansville program has been in shambles. Evansville played at one of the slowest paces in the country a season ago. That coupled with their total lack of efficiency on the offensive side of the ball, led to a team that only scored 59 points per game.

Playing slow and sloppy on the offensive end is one thing and there are teams out there who can win that way. It is nearly impossible to win playing that way when you provide no resistance on the defensive side of the ball at all. The Purple Aces played at the exact same pace on the defensive end as teams only managed to get up 52 shots per game on Evansville. However, the opponents shot 50% from the floor on the season for Evansville.

Lickliter is gone and the Purple Aces have started a new chapter. That chapter begins with David Ragland. Ragland has always been a well respected assistant who has had experience in the Missouri Valley. Ragland has been on the staff of a lot of winning teams and the hope is he can start to rebuild Evansville into a respectable Missouri Valley foe. This year though he is just hoping Evansville will win more than 6 games overall and more than 2 games in the conference. Kenny Strawbridge is a transfer from Alabama State, and he joins a brand new Evansville roster with the hopes of getting this team to rise from the depths of the Valley. Strawbridge had a successful career at Alabama State and his experience is going to be vital to Evansville.

340. Southeastern Louisiana Lions- Last Season Ranking: 317

Conference: Southland

The Lions were another team who surprised last year out of the Southland. It just goes to show the unpredictability of that conference where a different set of teams is going to finish near the top. Wherever I rank the Southland teams it is not going to where any of them end up because that conference is so unpredictable. Southeastern Louisiana had a huge year on the offensive end, and they lose their three top scorers including star Gus Okafor.

The Lions have a brand new roster they have to break in and it might be a struggle this year. They should still finish in the middle of the pack in the Southland, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they finished in the bottom half. Roscoe Eastmond is the only returning starter and he averaged 5 points per game a season ago.

339. North Dakota Fighting Hawks- Last Season Ranking: 297

Conference: Summit League

North Dakota did not have a good season last year and the switch to the Summit League 4 seasons ago has not gone well for head coach Paul Sather. Heading into last season I did not have much confidence that the Fighting Hawks would be good but figured they would be better than they showed and placed them in the top 300. They should have been ranked in the top 310 as they struggled mightily.  North Dakota couldn’t stop anyone on the defensive end as they allowed almost 80 points per game.

The Fighting Hawks don’t have much to on the roster this year to be excited about either. They will finish in the bottom of the Summit League pack. Cochise College transfer Jalun Trent almost averaged a triple double last year at Cochise and is going to run this offense.

338. Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles- Last Season Ranking: 301

Conference: Ohio Valley

It is going to be an interesting season for the Golden Eagles as they are looking at a totally new roster and have very little production returning from last season. Tennessee Tech has had a struggle with head coach John Pelphrey and this year after losing all five starters he is going to have to get creative. The Golden Eagles are going to have a lot of new faces and it may take a while to develop chemistry but the good part for them is that the Ohio Valley is not going to be nearly as competitive this year.

It is still going to be an uphill climb for Tennessee Tech as they are breaking in an unproven roster. They will likely finish in the bottom half of the Ohio Valley. Ty Perry, a transfer from Lafayette, is a great shooter and should be able to inject some life into the Golden Eagles offense.

337. Long Island University Sharks- Last Season Ranking: 212

Conference: Northeast

Heading into last season, many felt that Long Island could win the Northeast conference, because they had the best frontcourt in the league and one of the best in the country. That part turned out to be true. Those same people also said that Long Island would not win the league because their backcourt was questionable, and they did not have many guards who were going to produce. That was also true and even with no backcourt the Sharks still finished in the top half of the league.

Fast forward to the offseason, and the Sharks moved on from former coach Derek Kellogg and hired NBA Executive, New York Hall of Fame Member, and former NBA Point Guard Rod Strickland. Strickland has never been a head coach, but he did run an NBA G-League program. He is known for his talent evaluation and development ability. The Sharks are going to need to develop some talent quickly because they still have a ton of deficiencies in their backcourt and the three big men have graduated. Long Island is going to have a tough year.

Maurice Commander is now on his third school, but he is the player with the most experience and the highest ceiling for Long Island. He is going to lead this backcourt and should lead the team in all the counting offensive stats this year.

336. Hampton Pirates- Last Season Ranking: 278

Conference: Colonial

Hampton was in the Big South for four seasons and had a decent amount of success in that conference. They now head off for the Colonial and that conference is going to pose a bigger challenge for them. The Pirates are one of the better HBCU teams around and they are a consistent threat to finish in the top half of any league they are in. This year is going to be different as I do expect some growing pains as they make the jump to a better conference in the Colonial. The CAA always has a new team at the top and that tournament is always crazy so anything can happen.

Hampton and head coach Edward Joyner Jr need to figure out the offense. Last year the Pirates were anemic on offense for a good portion of the year and they struggled to get to 65 points most nights. The Pirates were awful from the three-point line and they did not shoot at a high efficiency from the floor at all. They were overall under 40% from the floor for the year. That isn’t going to get it done against teams in the Colonial. Hampton didn’t do much to alleviate the concerns I have about them on the offensive end.

They are going to keep games low scoring and must move the ball, or they are going to be stuck on the offensive end again. It all starts with Deuce Dean, who is the point guard. While Dean is going to be relied on to score, passing the ball to set up his teammates is what this team desperately needs.

335. NJIT Highlanders- Last Season Ranking: 292

Conference: America East

A program like NJIT must have a lot go right for them to have a run of success. There must be some star players who stay with the program and the role players are going to have to develop get better each year. The Highlanders have had a huge problem doing either of those things, the star players they have had have transferred and the ones who have stayed have not developed much and have never really improved. Honestly, you could say that not a single NJIT player has developed much in their time at the school.

Head coach Brian Kennedy trudges on and heads into this year with a team with a ton of question marks. NJIT has a terrible time putting the ball in the basket and until that improves, they are going to struggle winning games in the America East. NJIT does have their top scorer in Miles Coleman returning but it’s the role players who need to step up for the Highlanders to reach their goals.

334. UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros- Last Season Ranking: 299

Conference: WAC

The Vaqueros hired Matt Figger to lead the team last season and the Vaqueros are in a full rebuild.  Last year the team was very experienced and while learning a new system with a new coach were outmatched most nights. Coach Figger came from Austin Peay where he built the Governors into a contender in the Ohio Valley quickly. The plan is going to be the same for UTRGV. However, this season may be more in the same regarding rebuilding for UTRGV as they have one player who scored a point last season, back on campus this year.

Coach Figger likes his guys to get into the lane for easy baskets and his teams get fouled a lot. It will be more of the same this year with a brand new crop of guys. The Vaqueros still look to be a bottom tier WAC team as they are still in a rebuild. Justin Johnson is the lone returning player for UTRGV from a season ago and he did average 18 points per game. He will likely be the guy again for Coach Figger and the Vaqueros.

333. Omaha Mavericks- Last Season Ranking: 321

Conference: Summit League

Enter the worst defensive team in the country a season ago. The Mavericks gave up 84 points per game and the defensive numbers were as bad as you think they would be. They let teams shoot 40% from beyond the arc and 55% from inside the arc. The defense and the overall 5 wins were enough for Omaha to move to a new coach for this season. New coach Chris Crutchfield returns to his alma mater with his work cut out for him.  His first task is to find someone who can defend and then work backwards from there.

Omaha is the worst team in the Summit this year and could be one of the worst teams in the country. Frankie Fidler returns to lead a backcourt with injured point guard La’Mel Robinson to make up the duo who will handle the bulk of the scoring for the Mavericks.

332. Alcorn State Braves- Last Season Ranking: 333

Conference: SWAC

I really enjoy watching SWAC basketball and one of the reasons that the conference is so enjoyable for me is the uncertainty at the top of the league every year. This league doesn’t see the volume of transfers that other conferences do and the older a team gets the better they fair in the league. That was the case with the Braves last year. They had a lot of leadership and older players who had been around the league.

It is hard to stay on top of the league, but Alcorn State has a great coach in Landon Bussie, and they have a lot of key pieces back from last year. Every player fit into a role so well and even though they only had one double digit scorer they play well together, and it fits their style of play. Keondre Montgomery returns to lead the Braves.

331. Central Connecticut State Blue Devils- Last Season Ranking: 335

Conference: Northeast

Head coach Donyell Marshall didn’t work out, so the Blue Devils went with another alum to lead their basketball team in Patrick Sellers. Sellers didn’t have a great first year, but the Blue Devils are in a full rebuild and have been for quite some time. Some rebuilds feel like go on forever, but the good news is the Northeast conference is ever changing and with the right players and the right coach a turn around can happen.

They need to be far more efficient on the offensive end and it will all start with point guard Nigel Scantlebury. Scantlebury has an extremely high ceiling, and he can take the Blue Devils to new heights. This year the Blue Devils are still a bottom tier team in the Northeast Conference.