NCAA Basketball: Power Ranking every team (362-1) for 2023-24 season

275. Tulsa Golden Hurricane  – Last Season Ranking: 162

Conference: American Athletic

Tulsa is going to struggle a lot and they still will be bad but should be much better. Cobe Williams could be just what Tulsa needs to get the program back on track. The guard was recruited by coach Konkol at Louisiana Tech. They have familiarity with each other and coach Konkol trusts him to make the right plays. The other notable thing about Williams in addition to his ability to score is he made the Conference USA all defensive team twice. The guard has also scored over 1,200 points in his career. He is going to be a huge asset for a young team looking for an experienced leader.

274. Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders – Last Season Ranking: 212

Conference: Southland

It would be a huge surprise if Corpus Christi won the league and returned to the NCAA tournament for the third year in a row. Xavier Glenn is a transfer from Connors State where he was an honorable mention All American. Glenn scored over 1,000 points in two years and has a 30 point game on the ledger. Corpus Christi is still good enough to finish in the middle of the Southland.

273. Lehigh Mountain Hawks – Last Season Ranking: 282

Conference: Patriot League

Lehigh has a lot of their team back from last year including 2 of their stars. The depth won’t be the same, but the Mountain Hawks should still finish near the top of the Patriot League. Keith Higgins was the leading scorer for Lehigh a season ago and he is going to be an all conference player this year. Higgins shot 53% from inside the arc last year and shot 41% from deep a season ago. Higgins can light up a scoreboard and is good enough to carry the team for a while. When the guard is teamed up with the point guard Tyler Whitney-Sidney they form one of the best backcourt duos in the mid major ranks.

272. Stony Brook Seawolves – Last Season Ranking: 287

Conference: Coastal Athletic

Stony Brook is ready for their second season in the Coastal Athletic and this is a team that can make some noise if they stay healthy. Toby Onyekonwu was forced into the starting lineup last season because of injuries. He performed well as the teams point guard and his experience, especially in the league, is going to be valuable for the Seawolves heading into this year. The point guard struggled on the offensive end of the floor last year but as he gets more experience that will get better. I expect Onyekonwu to have a big year for Stony Brook and show he can be a good offensive player.

271. Columbia Lions – Last Season Ranking: 317

Conference: Ivy League

Columbia still likely finishes in the bottom of the league. Richard Nweke is the biggest recruit of the coach Engles era. He was a three star recruit and went to high school in New York. The hometown kid averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds as a high school player. The freshman was named the MVP of the Pangos All American East camp in 2019 and he has barely scratched the surface of how good he is going to be. He could be a star in the Ivy League.

270. San Diego Toreros – Last Season Ranking: 125

Conference: West Coast

The Toreros have a young roster, and it is going to be hard to compete in the WCC with such an inexperienced roster they are destined for last place. Kevin Patton Jr. is a freshman from Temecula who had a good high school high school career. The 6’8” guard scored over 1,700 points in his high school career and was the player of the year in his division last year. He should show well in his first season in the WCC.

269. Siena Saints – Last Season Ranking: 248

Conference: MAAC

The Saints are going to be young, but rest assured they are going to be well coached and it won’t take long for the younger players to make an impact. Siena may not have their normal success, but they are going to be a factor in the MAAC and should still end up with a winning record. Sean Durugordon is a transfer from Austin Peay. The guard averaged 13 points to go with 6 rebounds last year. He is a skilled scorer who can impact the offense in many ways. He is going to be a nice security blanket for the Saints. Durugordon will need a waiver to play this season.

268. Canisius Golden Griffins – Last Season Ranking: 289

Conference: MAAC

It looks like another bottom half of the MAAC finish. Tahj Staveskie enters his sophomore year as one of the most decorated freshmen in Canisius history. He was the only player to start every game for coach Witherspoon. He is the returning leading scorer with 13 points per game. He is a budding star in the MAAC, and he is going to lead the Golden Griffins.

267. Dartmouth Big Green – Last Season Ranking: 250

Conference: Ivy League

Coach David McLaughlin is hoping he can put out a winner this year but, it looks like Dartmouth is another bottom tier Ivy team. Dusan Neskovic is a star in waiting. The forward has a big time offensive game. He is skilled in the paint and can shoot the lights out from deep. His role is going to expand this year and if he can take the next step in his development the Big Green may be a better offensive team than they have been in the past.

266. Hampton Pirates – Last Season Ranking: 336

Conference: Coastal Athletic

Head Coach Edward Joyner is hoping that year two in the Coastal is a lot better than the first. Jordan Nesbitt is well traveled as he started his career at Memphis, then transferred to Saint Louis, before finally finding a home at Hampton. The guard is the best player for the Pirates and returns ready to improve on his breakout season. He averaged 15 points per game last year, scored 30 points against Stony Brook, and was 2 rebounds and a few assists shy of a triple double. Nesbitt stuffs the stat sheet and the better he plays the better the Pirates play.

265. Grambling State Tigers – Last Season Ranking: 325

Conference: SWAC

Head coach Donte’ Jackson is going to win with any one he has because his style of play is sustainable throughout. The Tigers win over Colorado a season ago was just the beginning for Grambling. The Tigers are tournament bound this year. Jalen Johnson is a sixth year transfer into the program. The forward started his career at Alabama A&M where he dominated the SWAC and then went to Milwaukee where he was a role player. Johnson comes back into the league where he started and should be an easy first team all-conference player.

264. Oakland Golden Grizzlies – Last Season Ranking: 225

Conference: Horizon League

Trey Townsend was a one man wrecking crew in the paint for Oakland a season ago. He shot well over 50% from the floor and had multiple 20 point games. The big man is also a fantastic rebounder and was able to haul in a shade under 3 offensive rebounds per game last year and in addition to that he averaged 1 block per game. Townsend cannot do it himself and Kampe knows that which is why he went out to get defensive reinforcements. The big man looks like the next in a long line of Oakland players to be honored with all-conference honors.

263. Norfolk State Spartans – Last Season Ranking: 150

Conference: MEAC

Christian Ings got hurt 13 games into the season last year. Norfolk State was 9-4 in the games he played a season ago and 13-7 in games he didn’t play. Ings shoots over 60% from the floor, almost 40% from three, and runs the offense. It is never easy to lose the starting point guard but when that player can do what Ings does on the offensive side of the ball it hurts even more. The guard knows how to win, and he does a lot of the little things on top of scoring and playing great defense. Norfolk State is much better when he is on the floor.

262. Tennessee State Tigers – Last Season Ranking: 277

Conference: Ohio Valley

This year a lot of those long time Tigers are gone, and the offense may be a little less efficient and won’t be as electric, but the defense should be better, as coach Collins went out and got some defensive guys in the portal. Tennessee State is still a top tier team in the Ohio Valley. Christian Brown had a huge year for Tennessee State last year. His season started late as he was recovering from an injury A season ago, he dominated shooting over 60% from inside the arc and 42% from deep. He did it in less than 20 minutes per night. He should start this year and lead the offense.

261. Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers – Last Season Ranking: 235

Conference: MAAC

The MAAC is a tougher conference than the NEC, but the Mount should still finish in the middle of the pack, and anything can happen come conference tournament time. Dakota Leffew takes almost half of his shots from deep and makes almost 40% of them. The guard is the one player on this roster who is given the green light to shoot from deep. The Mount do not shoot a lot of threes as a rule but Leffew, can score from anywhere but can really get going from deep to carry the Mountaineers.

260. North Carolina Central Eagles – Last Season Ranking: 238

Conference: MEAC

The Eagles have made four NCAA tournaments in the last 10 years, which is easily the most in the conference and they are going to add more before Moton retires or moves on. Regardless of roster the Eagles are always a threat to come out of the MEAC. Guy Fauntleroy is a transfer for Austin Peay who has only begun to show his true potential.  The guard is a great defender who is getting better on the offensive end.  The guard played sparingly last season and his per 40 minute numbers were great. He is going to have a much larger role for the Eagles, and I expect a breakout season.

259. Niagara Purple Eagles – Last Season Ranking: 229

Conference: MAAC

Niagara still finishes in the middle of the MAAC pack but can sneak into the top tier. Yaw Obeng-Mensah is a transfer into the program from UMBC and the forward is the perfect player to thrive for coach Paulus. Obeng-Mensah is a tough defender, shoots at a high efficiency from the floor and is a great rebounder. Those are all things that Niagara values and the forward is going to thrive at his new school.

258. North Dakota Fighting Hawks – Last Season Ranking: 339

Conference: Summit League

I don’t know what to think of the Fighting Hawks, they have a lot of young talent and did try to supplement the roster through the JUCO transfer portal, but will they be good?  Can they make enough shots against the good teams in the Summit? BJ Omot enters his sophomore season as the star for the Fighting Hawks. It is going to be the second straight year that Omot is going to be asked to carry the load offensively and if his freshman season is any indication he is going to thrive in that role. The forward is the only player for North Dakota who can create his own shot and there is not a shot on the floor he can not make.

257. Southern Utah Thunderbirds – Last Season Ranking: 132

Conference: WAC

Coach Jeter has never made the NCAA tournament as head coach but with the pool of players he is able to get in the WAC the Thunderbirds may finally make the tournament, though it will not be this year. Prophet Johnson is a player with a high ceiling and put up huge numbers at Bellevue Junior College. The guard scored 50 points in a game. Even though he took a ton of shots he still showed that he was an elite scoring guard. He finished the year averaging 25 points per game, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. He is a guy who can fill up a stat sheet and is a guy that coach Jeter is going to love as he has the perfect game for his system.

256. Wofford Terriers – Last Season Ranking: 132

Conference: Southern

This season Wofford has some question marks surrounding who they are going to rely on to score. The team is young but does have some options from players who got minutes last year. Coach Perry has coached a lot of conference freshman of the year and players of the year and is known as a great recruiter and player developer, Wofford will still win games but may struggle a bit this year initially. Quentin Meza has Southern conference freshman of the year all over him. He is one of the most prolific scorers in Utah high school history. He is one of only 8 players to ever score over 2,000 points. Meza also finished third in Utah state history with 603 career assists. He can shoot and pass the ball at an elite level coming out of high school. He is one freshman that I can say will confidently play a lot and will help Wofford win some games.

255. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers – Last Season Ranking: 178

Conference: Sun Belt

Cliff Ellis enters his 50th season as a division 1 head coach. It will be his 18th as the head man for The Chanticleers head into the 2023-2024 season losers of 11 out of their last 12 games. Coach Ellis has also flipped the roster. He was able to utilize the transfer portal to grab some graduate transfers for experience and some high ceiling guys looking for a fresh start. Coastal Carolina is a team that should always be over .500 and usually finishes in the middle of the pack in the Sun Belt.

254. Buffalo Bulls – Last Season Ranking: 183

Conference: MAC

Buffalo may take a year or two before they are back at the top of the MAC, but the new coach has a ton of recruiting connections and is a great recruiter. He was the lead recruiter on most of the talent that came through Villanova, that he can build the Bulls to the premier program in the MAC. Sy Chatman tore his ACL the season before and was out for the season. Losing a player, the caliber of Chatman really hurt Buffalo all season, and it makes you wonder what the record would have been if the Bulls had their star. Chatman is a skilled and athletic big man who shoots at a high percentage from the floor and rebounds the ball well. It will be interesting to see where he fits in with the new coach because Chatman doesn’t shoot threes.

253. Northern Colorado Bears – Last Season Ranking: 180

Conference: Big Sky

Losing almost 75% of your scoring from last season is not easily replaced. Northern Colorado could be in for another long year, especially if they still can’t defend. Riley Abercromie is an interesting player. He is the big man for Northern Colorado, but he doesn’t play like a big man. He led the Bears in three point shooting last year, shooting over 40% from deep. The big man also took most of his shots from outside. A reliable stretch big is going to open the floor so much more on offense once the opponent’s big man gets pulled out of the paint and that will help efficiency for the Bears around the basket. Abercrombie is going to have a ton of opportunities this year to lead the offense. Can he carry the team?  We will soon find out.

252. East Tennessee State Buccaneers – Last Season Ranking: 226

Conference: Southern

As with most coaching changes the roster this year is completely new, and they are currently undergoing a bit of a rebuild. Maki Johnson was the first recruit for coach Savage. Johnson was averaging just under a triple double in high school, was the top ranked player in West Virginia, and was a top 50 shooting guard recruit in the country. Johnson is a guy who is going to step in a play right away and is going to be at the front of the change. He is a talented freshman who can win the Buccaneers games every time he steps on the floor.

251. UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros – Last Season Ranking: 334

Conference: WAC

This year the roster looks a lot different and UTRGV is still likely a bottom tier team in the WAC but don’t ever count out Coach Figger he is going to develop one of these guys into a star who is going to carry them to some wins. Elijah Elliott was a JUCO All American a season ago and he already has Division 1 experience at Mount St. Mary’s. He is a talented scorer who is going to be the next player to take off under Figger.