NCAA Basketball: Ranking final 18 unbeaten teams for 2023-24 season

13. Princeton

One could easily say that Princeton is continuing where they left off last season. While the roster does look a little different this year, this Tigers team did advance to the Sweet Sixteen as a 15-seed last season. Mitch Henderson’s squad is leaning more on pieces like Matt Allocco and Caden Pierce this year and have quite frankly astounded in the opening weeks of this current season.

You won’t find Princeton in the rankings or mentioned among the top teams, but you also won’t find another team who’s had quite this schedule. The Tigers have won seven games, with five on the road and a sixth (on opening night against Rutgers) on a neutral-court. These haven’t been flukes either, they played really well in true road wins against solid mid-majors like Hofstra and Duquesne while their only home game was a win over Northeastern last weekend.

There are certainly still challenging games ahead, but Princeton is the first team where you can look at their schedule and see a legitimate path to an unbeaten run through the regular season. That certainly doesn’t mean it will happen or is even likely, especially with tough games against Furman, Drexel, and Saint Joseph’s in the next week and a half. However, blitzing through their initial opponents away from home makes us think they can handle their Ivy League schedule.