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

175. Abilene Christian Wildcats – Last Season Ranking: 118

Conference WAC

Most of the roster is back from last year which will give them more experience but is the roster talented enough to move up?  Abilene Christian is a bottom tier team in the WAC again. Kavion McClain is a 5’9” point guard transfer from Howard College. McClain is what is known as a game wrecker on the defensive end of the floor. He was one of the best defenders at his level last year. In addition to his defensive prowess, he was also one of the best passers at his level a season ago. He is going to be a huge asset on the defensive end and with his passing ability even if he doesn’t score that much. Abilene Christian enters the year with a six game losing streak.

174. Charlotte 49ers – Last Season Ranking: 207

Conference: American

New head coach Aaron Fearne was the associate head coach for Charlotte last season. I do expect a similar style for Charlotte, but you never know what a coach is going to run. The Australian has a lot of experience and success coaching in the Australian professional leagues, so he is no stranger to running a program. The new head coach is a great recruiter and should be able to keep a steady stream of talent at Charlotte. Lu’Cye Patterson is the point guard, and he is good one. He led the Conference USA in assist to turnover ratio a season ago. He accounted for 90 assists and only 45 turnovers. The point guard stepped his play up as the 49ers made their run through the CBI tournament he averaged 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Those are the kind of numbers he is going to need to put up this year to carry the 49ers.

173. Old Dominion Monarchs – Last Season Ranking: 168

Conference: Sun Belt

The Monarchs don’t need the most talented dudes to go play for them, just play hard, be physical, don’t turn it over and coach Jones will find a spot for you to play. Chaunce Jenkins did not start the season out as a starter for Old Dominion, but he played well enough that he earned that chance to start for the Monarchs. He ended up the best player for Old Dominion. The point guard is the best offensive player on the team as he shoots almost 50% from the floor, will make over 30% of his threes, and shoots 76% from the line. Coach Jones runs the offense through him and wants him to make things happen on the floor. Jenkins makes Old Dominion much better when he is on the floor.

172. Radford Highlanders – Last Season Ranking: 297

Conference: Big South

There is a lot to like with this Radford squad especially when it comes to Bryan Antoine. Antoine is a former Villanova player who had a hard time getting on the floor due to injuries. The guard transferred to Radford where he shoots 42% from deep, 54% from inside the arc, and plays unbelievable defense. He has a chance to be the Big South player of the year and he is going to be a huge catalyst if Radford makes the NCAA tournament.

171. Air Force Falcons – Last Season Ranking: 240

Conference: Mountain West

This year it looks to be more of a committee approach to the offense for the Falcons and the hope is that as the team gains more experience, they will start moving up in the Mountain West rankings. They are still a bottom tier team in the league. Rytis Petraitis was one of the best freshmen in the Mountain West last year. He was named the freshman of the week six times. The forward also set a record for most free throws attempted in the league with 104 in league games. He is going to get a much larger role in the offense this year and can turn into a star. He is going to keep getting to the line and getting better as he gets more comfortable with his routine at Air Force. Petraitis is good enough to garner all conference attention.

170. UMass-Lowell River Hawks – Last Season Ranking: 170

Conference: America East

This is going to be the best River Hawks team of the Division 1 era and they have a great chance to finally unseat Vermont as the America East champion. Abdoul Karim Coulibaly is not the most skilled guy on the team, but he is the most important. The big man is not going to shoot threes, but he is going to make over half of his shots in the paint and average double figures in scoring. The one asset he brings to the River Hawks is his ability to lock down the paint. Karim Coulibaly is a versatile defender who lets coach Duquette get creative underneath the basket. UMass-Lowell needs their big man to reach their full potential even if he is not the most skilled offensive player in the country. Lots of teams would love a guy Karim Coulibaly to plant in the paint, make his shots around the basket, and play great defense.

169. Utah Valley Wolverines – Last Season Ranking: 199

Conference: WAC

The Wolverines could be in a tough year as they rebuild. Drake Allen transferred from one WAC program to another. He was a key piece to the Southern Utah team a season ago and this year he is going to be the likely star for Utah Valley.  Every new coach can use a reliable point guard and that is exactly what Allen is. He ran the Southern Utah offense last season and came away from the year averaging just under 4 assists per game. Allen is also an efficient scorer who averaged 11 points per game on 50% from the floor. He is going to be asked to score more as well as distribute and Allen in the type of player that can make the transition seamless.

168. Temple Owls – Last Season Ranking: 101

Conference: American Athletic

There are only two seniors on the current roster, but the rest of the roster is filled with talented players acquired through the transfer portal or who are returning to Temple. The American is tough at the top and Temple doesn’t quite have the horses to compete. The Owls finish in the middle of the pack. Hysier Miller fully understands what it means to play for Temple. He was born and raised in Philadelphia and chose to stay home to attend Temple. He is finally going to get to run this offense and take control of the team. He doesn’t do a lot of flashy things, but he does have a good offensive game and can play defense. He is a tough kid who is going to play hard the entire game no matter the score. Miller is what it means to play Philly basketball.

167. San Jose State Spartans – Last Season Ranking: 239

Conference: Mountain West

This season the roster is not as good, but San Jose State does have some key transfers. As anyone who has followed coach Miles’ career will tell you he loves to get transfers and turn them into stars. San Jose State is a middle of the pack team in the Mountain West again. Adrame Diongue was a highly coveted transfer from Washington State, the 7’0” big man barely played at his previous school, but he is loaded with talent. He is extremely athletic for how big he is, he can rebound, score in the paint, and has the ceiling of an elite rebounder. Diongue is the next player in the long list of players that Miles has taken from transfer to star.

166. Marshall Thundering Herd – Last Season Ranking: 138

Conference: Sun Belt

This season is not going to go as well for Coach D’Antoni his stars are gone, and he is going to go through a little bit of a rebuild. The offense is still going to be elite because coach D’Antoni knows how to score points. The depth for Marshall is not nearly as good and no one on the current roster has shown they can score 20 a game all year. I am sure I will be wrong, and Marshall will be fine but for now they are a middle of the pack Sun Belt team. Kamdyn Curfman is the next player up in the Marshall system to average 20 points per game. The guard does have the offensive ceiling to do it and he is going to get the shots in the offense. Curfman was used as a three point specialist last year and took 255 threes and made 103 of them. Coach D’Antoni likely wants him to maintain that percentage while getting a much higher volume of shots at the rim. Curfman is a natural shooter and with a higher volume of shots should score 20 a game.

165. Notre Dame Fighting Irish – Last Season Ranking: 43

Conference: ACCOver the last few seasons, it was evident that Notre Dame needed a new voice to lead their basketball program and they hired one of the better up and coming coaches in the country in Micah Shrewsberry. The Fighting Irish are in a full rebuild mode and the roster this season is young and unproven. Kebba Njie was a freshman at Penn State last year and he was a starter for coach Shrewsberry. Njie didn’t put up great numbers last year but has a high ceiling and is going to get every opportunity to have a breakout season. Njie is familiar with how Shrewsberry wants to play and will be the best player for the Irish.

164. Fordham Rams – Last Season Ranking: 232

Conference: Atlantic 10

The two superstars are gone, and Fordham is left with a roster of former role players and transfers. That doesn’t mean this roster is a little off on talent as there is a significant dip in the talent this year, but head coach Urgo is a great coach who is going to maximize the talent on the roster. Japhet Medor comes to Rose Hill from the UTSA Roadrunners where he was the leading scorer and honorable mention Conference USA. The point guard was top 5 in the league in assists and steals. He is a guy that coach Urgo can rely on to get the tough buckets in crunch time. He has one 30 point game on the ledger.

163. George Mason Patriots – Last Season Ranking: 107

Conference: Atlantic 10

The first year under coach Tony Skinn may be a mixed bag. The Patriots are young, but they do have some big time talent acquired through the transfer portal. George Mason will still be good enough to finish in the middle of pack in Atlantic 10. Ronald Polite III is a holdover from coach English and he was one of the most improved players in the country last year. The guard saw his scoring average improve to 11.5 points from 4 points, his assists went to 4 per game from 1 per game. The point guard also showed that he a very capable three point shooter at 36% from deep. Polite III is one of the best point guards in the Atlantic 10 and is great building block for coach Skinn.

162. Winthrop Eagles – Last Season Ranking: 165

Conference: Big South

Winthrop was one of the worst defensive teams in the country and if they would have been just marginally better on defense the outcome of last season could have changed completely.  Kelton Talford was the most dominant player in the Big South not named Drew Pember. The big man set a Winthrop record for field goal percentage with 67%. Talford is 10 rebounds away from 500 in his career and 107 points away from 1,000 for his career. The big man has a big year ahead of him and will earn his second straight first team all-conference selection.

161. Iona Gaels – Last Season Ranking: 114

Conference: MAAC

Rick Pitino had the best three year stretch in Gaels history and that job was a launching point for the legendary head coach to get back into the power conferences. Coach Pitino is now the head coach at Saint John’s. Iona went out and hired another big name in Tobin Anderson. Coach Anderson was the man who led the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights to a first round upset over Purdue becoming the second 16 seed to beat a 1 seed. Idan Tretout is on the verge of a breakout and by all reports has been showing out in practice for coach Anderson and the Gaels. Tretout is a transfer from Harvard who started to show his full potential over the last 15 games of the season. Over that amount of time, he averaged 13 points per game, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. The guard is a good shooter from deep and will stuff a stat sheet. Tretout is going to have a breakout year.

160. Portland Pilots – Last Season Ranking: 135

Conference: WCC

Until Portland gets their defense fixed, they are going to be spinning their wheels. Tyler Robertson was one of two players in the country to average 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. He led the conference in total assists, assists per game, and free throws made. Robertson made 163 free throws last year and he took 208 attempts. The guard did record a triple double and had one of the best individual seasons is Pilots history. He has the third most free throws made in Pilot history, fifth in assists, tenth in assists per game, and 13th in total points. How will the encore for Robertson look after his great season last year?

159. Eastern Washington Eagles – Last Season Ranking: 192

Conference: Big Sky

Head coach David Riley has a much younger team this year and does not have a single player returning who averaged over 10 points per game. Lucky for the Eagles that the Big Sky is wide open, a lot of teams could win the league and Eastern Washington is going to have some of the best talent. Talent usually wins out. Ethan Price is the starting big man for the Eagles, and he is one of the best big men in the Big Sky conference. A stretch five who shoots 39% from deep over his career is a huge asset to have. Price also the ability to block shots. He averages just under 1 per game for his career. It is now going to be his show and he is going to get the looks in the offense for coach Riley. His career average of 9.7 points should go up this year.

158. Georgetown Hoyas – Last Season Ranking: 129

Conference: Big East

Coach Ed Cooley has flipped the roster with power five transfers and high rated freshmen. Georgetown is on the way up and in a few years coach Cooley should have the Hoyas back in the NCAA tournament consistently again. It’s hard to know what to expect this year with so many new pieces. Supreme Cook is a transfer from Fairfield who has a very high ceiling. Cook was the best player on a very offensively challenged Stags team last year. The forward averaged 13 points, 9 rebounds and shot over 50% from the field. There were games in the MAAC that Cook took over and dominated. He may have played at a low major, but he is good enough to play high division 1 basketball. He will be a nice security blanket for coach Cooley.

157. Youngstown State Penguins – Last Season Ranking: 213

Conference: Horizon League

While Youngstown State may not put up 81 points per game again, they are still one of the favorites in the Horizon League. Brandon Rush was a huge part of the team a year ago. He was a starter who scored 14 points per game and shot 60% from inside the three point arc. Rush took the most three point attempts on the team and shot 38% from deep. I think he can be better from deep. Rush is going to get every opportunity to lead this offense again and won’t disappoint.

156. UTEP Miners – Last Season Ranking: 177

Conference: Conference USA

Conference USA looks a lot different this year than it has in a long time, and it is a league that will be winnable in the future, but for right now UTEP is still trying to find their way. Zid Powell is a transfer from Buffalo who is the perfect player to thrive with coach Golding. Powell is a guy who does so much on the floor. He can score, and usually does it very efficiently. He is adept at getting to the line and makes almost 80% of his attempts when he is there. The guard rebounds the ball well for a guard and can pass and set up the offense. He is going to thrive in the offense and is likely going to be a guy who wins a lot of games for the Miners.

155. Toledo Rockets – Last Season Ranking: 84

Conference: MAC

There are still a lot of pieces on the team and coach Kowalczyk is a great coach that the Rockets won’t fall too far but they will not compete for an NCAA tournament this year and likely finish middle of the pack in the MAC. Dante Maddox Jr. led the MAC in three-point shooting in 2022-2023. The guard shot over 45% from deep but saw that balloon to 49% in MAC games. Maddox Jr. is the only returning player who averaged double digits for the season and immediately steps in as the go to guy in the offense. He is still going to be one of the best three-point shooters in the country.

154. Davidson Wildcats – Last Season Ranking: 98

Conference: Atlantic 10

The Wildcats lost a lot of scoring from last season and this year may also be a struggle. Even with that said the Wildcats always seem to find a way to get to .500 or better. Grant Huffman was the starting point guard for the Wildcats last year and he was one of the better point guards in the Atlantic 10. Huffman finished with 3.2 assists and a 2.3 assist to turnover ratio. He is good when he gets into the paint but is not a great three-point shooter. Not to fear because Huffman is at his best when he looking to pass first. If he can get others involved, then Davidson will somehow get to .500.

153. UC Davis Aggies – Last Season Ranking: 187

Conference: Big West

The Aggies didn’t have the season they were hoping for in the Big West and are hungry and a team that can be an ultimate sleeper because they will be taken lightly. Elijah Pepper is the owner of the best individual season in UC Davis history. Pepper scored 697 points last season, which averaged out to 22.5 pointer per game. The most impressive thing with the guard is that he took about 17 shots per game, but still made almost 45% of them. It is rare for a volume shooter to have good shooting percentages from floor. In addition to his 22.5 points per game Pepper led the UC Davis squad in rebounding and assists as well. He is one of the best players in the game.

152. South Alabama Jaguars – Last Season Ranking: 222

Conference: Sun Belt

The Jaguars are built the same this year and even all the talent that they lost, 4 starters and their sixth man, South Alabama still seems like a team that is going to finish in the top half of the Sun Belt and will compete for a postseason tournament. Maxwell Land is a transfer from Saint Francis (Pa) and he brings with him experience, shooting, and rebounding from the guard position. Land was a hot commodity on the transfer market before finally settling at South Alabama. He was a volume shooter last year but still made over 40% of his shots and 36% of his threes. Land is a guy who can do a lot of damage from deep. The guard is not the biggest guy in the world as he is 6’4” and 195 pounds but he went out and secured almost 6 rebounds per night. Having a guard who can rebound like that makes every team so much better.

151. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders – Last Season Ranking: 124

Conference: Conference USA

The team this year has been bolstered in the transfer portal. Coach McDevitt found a lot of guys in the portal who are talented players who didn’t get much chance at their last school. Some recruits came from schools that didn’t win much and wanted a fresh start and one player from a JUCO is going to impact the game in a lot of ways. Middle Tennessee is a good bet to win the league this year. O’Zhell Jackson is a transfer from Coahoma Community College where he was a triple double threat every night. Jackson recorded two triple doubles last year and is likely going to average a double double. It’s hard to say how JUCO players will do at a 4 year college but Jackson is talented and is going to get a few triple doubles this year.