334. Le Moyne Dolphins- Last Season Ranking: 340
Conference: Northeast
Player to know: Nate Fouts
Le Moyne struggled to defend and ranked among the worst in the country in 2024-2025. The roster for 2025-2026 doesn't look much better and may be worse. The Dolphins lost a lot of talent. For the Dolphins to climb out of the NEC basement, a lot of players are going to have to take a giant leap.
333. Eastern Illinois Panthers- Last Season Ranking: 331
Conference: Ohio Valley
Player to know: Kooper Jacobi
Eastern Illinois plays at one of the slowest paces in the country and doesn't shoot a ton of threes. Head coach Marty Simmons plays a havoc-style defense that leads to many turnovers. The style can work if the right players are recruited, and coach Simmons hopes that his combo of returning players and JUCO stars can right the ship for the Panthers.
332. Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks- Last Season Ranking: 337
Conference: Ohio Valley
Player to know: Afan Trnka
Two seasons ago, the Skyhawks were the best team in the Ohio Valley Conference. They then lost their best players to the transfer portal, and their coach left for another job. Last year was the first year of the rebuild with some star power. The 2025-2026 season doesn't look to go as well. The roster doesn't have any stars, is young, and has a ton of question marks. It might be a long year for the Skyhawks.
331. Stonehill College Skyhawks- Last Season Ranking: 354
Conference: Northeast
Player to know: William Batchelder
Stonehill has not been able to replicate its first NEC season, when it won the league. The Skyhawks finished in the middle of the pack last season, but they were fun to watch. Stonhill plays extremely slow but shoots a ton of threes. The 2025-2026 roster features one of the best three-point shooters in the country.
330. South Carolina Upstate Spartans- Last Season Ranking: 345
Conference: Big South
Player to know: Karmani Gregory
The Spartans won six games last season, and it was because Upstate had one of the worst defenses in the country. Scoring was not a problem last year, and it won't be much of one this year. However, will the Spartans be able to improve on their 84 PPG game defense? If they can do that, they have a roster that can make noise in the Big South.
329. Niagara Purple Eagles- Last Season Ranking: 312
Conference: MAAC
Player to know: Brian Griffith
Greg Paulus has not had nearly the success I thought he would as Niagara's head coach. The Purple Eagles have never gotten close to winning the MAAC under his tutelage. The 2025-2026 season might be worse than usual for Niagara. The entire roster consists of Division II and JUCO transfers who will have to develop quickly.
328. Alcorn State Braves- Last Season Ranking: 327
Conference: SWAC
Player to know: Alex Hawkins
The Braves started 0-14 last year and ended up with 11 wins. That is quite the turnaround, but fast-forward to the 2025-2026 season, and the Alcorn State roster has flipped. The team doesn't have much Division 1 experience, and many of its members came from JUCO. It will be hard for Alcorn State to win games this season.
Conference: America East
Player to know: Jeremiah Quigley
Binghamton had its best team under head coach Levell Sanders, and it made the most of it, finishing 5th in the America East. The Bearcats have a rebuilt roster heading into the 2025-2026 season. The roster was built in the transfer portal but lacks any true stars. Binghamton's ceiling is a middle-of-the-pack team in the league.
326. Prairie View A & M Panthers- Last Season Ranking: 334
Conference: SWAC
Player to know: Tai’Reon Joseph
The Panthers have won 15 games total in the last two seasons. The rebuild is in large part due to the lack of defense, and the roster got destroyed in the transfer portal during that time. It is hard to build a winning roster when all of your good players leave every year. Prairie View has another new roster again this year.
325. Lindenwood Lions- Last Season Ranking: 353
Conference: Ohio Valley
Player to know: Anias Futrell
Lindenwood had a talented team that got clean looks at the basket a lot, but just missed a ton of shots last season. They were one of the worst three-point and free-throw shooting teams in the country. The Lions have an experienced roster, but didn't add much in the way of shooting or improved offense. Lindenwood will likely finish right about .500 overall again.
324. Charleston Southern Buccaneers- Last Season Ranking: 241
Conference: Big South
Player to know: A’Lahn Sumler
Charleston Southern has one of the worst arenas in the sport, and recruiting players to be a Buccaneer is never going to be easy. Head coach Saah Nimley knows that, and as a result, went out and found players from the lower divisions and JUCO ranks who all can score, but can they play defense?
323. Buffalo Bulls- Last Season Ranking: 352
Conference: MAC
Player to know: Daniel Freitag
The first year under head coach George Halcovage didn't go well. This year, Buffalo had to improve quickly and did so by scouring the transfer portal and bringing in many experienced, high-scoring Division II and JUCO players. Buffalo should be better and might surprise many teams this year thanks to overall roster improvements.
322. North Carolina Central Eagles- Last Season Ranking: 254
Conference: MEAC
Player to know: Ryan Archey
It has now been six straight years since the Eagles last made the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina Central has still been one of the best teams in the MEAC during that period. Head coach Levelle Moton has built a stacked roster again, and the Eagles are one of the best teams in the MEAC heading into the 2025-2026 season.
321. Alabama A&M Bulldogs- Last Season Ranking: 336
Conference: SWAC
Player to know: Kintavious Dozier
The Bulldogs enter the Donte' Jackson era with hopes that he can turn the Alabama A&M program into a SWAC power, just as he did with the Grambling Tigers. The Bulldogs have a new roster, with many transfers from Grambling. Those players are familiar with the SWAC and with Jackson, which will help kickstart the rebuild.
320. South Carolina State Bulldogs- Last Season Ranking: 278
Conference: MEAC
Player to know: Jayden Johnson
The Bulldogs won 20 games for the first time in 22 years last season. That 20-win season resulted in a first-place finish in the MEAC, and even though South Carolina State lost in the conference title game, it was still something for head coach Erik Martin to build on. There are expectations for the 2025-2026 season, but the roster might not be good enough.
319. Bellarmine Knights- Last Season Ranking: 310
Conference: Atlantic Sun
Player to know: Jack Karasinski
Bellarmine won the Atlantic Sun title in 2021. Since then, the Knights have won 15 conference games and have been nowhere close to a championship. Everything begins and ends on the defensive end for Bellarmine. They don't play fast enough on offense to win shootouts. Bellarmine is extremely young, so that defense may be an afterthought again this year.
318. North Dakota Fighting Hawks- Last Season Ranking: 251
Conference: Summit League
Player to know: Eli King
North Dakota was an interesting team last year. They had one of the best offenses in the country, along with one of the worst defenses. They looked like a typical Summit League team. This year, the Fighting Hawks lost a ton of talent and have one of the worst rosters in the Summit League.
317. Northern Illinois Huskies- Last Season Ranking: 316
Conference: MAC
Player to know: Jao Ituka
Northern Illinois won six games last year. As a result, head coach Rashon Burno flipped the entire roster. There is not a single player who has ever scored a point for the Huskies on the 2025-2026 roster. Northern Illinois needs to try anything, considering they have gotten worse every year under coach Burno.
316. Lafayette Leopards- Last Season Ranking: 262
Conference: Patriot League
Player to know: Caleb Williams
The Leopards are another Patriot League team that doesn't do much on offense, but they are never out of a game because they keep everything low-scoring and remain highly competitive. Lafayette is young, but it has many younger players who have gained a ton of experience. The Leopards are a middle-of-the-pack Patriot League team.
315. Kansas City Kangaroos- Last Season Ranking: 195
Conference: Summit League
Player to know: Jayson Petty
The Kangaroos struggled to keep up in the scoring column last year, especially in the offensive-heavy Summit League. Head coach Marvin Menzies coached his Kansas City squad to one of the best defenses in the country, and that is always what the Roos are going to hang their hat on. This year, the roster is loaded with JUCO transfers who should be a quick fix to the scoring problem Kansas City had last year.
314. Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs- Last Season Ranking: 271
Conference: Big South
Player to know: Ace Talbert
Gardner-Webb had its worst season in a long time last year, and head coach Jeremy Luther might have a worse one this year. The Runnin' Bulldogs don't have much on their roster to get excited about this year, but that is the nature of a rebuilding roster. Gardner-Webb won't be the worst team in the Big South, though.
313. West Georgia Wolves- Last Season Ranking: 332
Conference: Atlantic Sun
Player to know: Shelton Williams-Dryden
312. Fairfield Stags- Last Season Ranking: 192
Conference: MAAC
Player to know: Deuce Turner
The Stags were competitive in the MAAC last year, but didn't have enough to win most games. Outside of their top three players, the Stags had very little depth. Never fear, though, the transfer portal was here for Fairfield, which hopes to have improved depth and more star power. Fairfield will finish close to .500 this year.
311. American Eagles- Last Season Ranking: 230
Conference: Patriot League
Player to know: Greg Jones
American made the NCAA Tournament last year, and it might be a while before the Eagles return. American lost a ton of talent after last season and heads into the 2025-2026 season with one of the youngest rosters in the country.
310. Central Connecticut State Blue Devils- Last Season Ranking: 299
Conference: Northeast
Player to know: Nico Ashley
The Blue Devils dominated the NEC last season only to see their season come to an end with a loss to St. Francis in the NEC title game. As a consolation prize heading into the 2025-2026 season, Central Connecticut has a retooled roster that lost a lot of talent. Even with that, head coach Patrick Sellers will still have his team competing at the top of the league.
309. Grambling State Tigers- Last Season Ranking: 265
Conference: SWAC
Player to know: Paul McMillan IV
The Donte' Jackson era is over at Grambling State, and hopefully that doesn't mean that the Tigers become the worst program in the sport again. The Tigers' new head coach, Patrick Crarey, has one player who got minutes for Grambling last year, but filled up the roster with some talented transfers. Grambling should be okay.
308. Central Michigan Chippewas- Last Season Ranking: 275
Conference: MAC
Player to know: Phat Phat Brooks
Tony Barbee is out, Andy Bronkema is in. The former Ferris State coach brings with him a winning pedigree and a National Championship. Unfortunately, the Chippewas have no returning players from last season and are in full-on rebuild mode.
307. Lehigh Mountain Hawks- Last Season Ranking: 266
Conference: Patriot League
Player to know: Nasir Whitlock
Lehigh won only 11 games last season but was competitive in most of its games. Heading into this season, the Mountain Hawks are without their two best scorers from last year but have brought back every other contributor. Will Lehigh take a step forward with their experienced roster?
306. Texas Southern Tigers- Last Season Ranking: 279
Conference: SWAC
Player to know: Zaire Hayes
Texas Southern is never a team to take lightly in the SWAC. This year, they return everyone from a top-half finish in the league last year and head into the season as one of the favorites to win the SWAC and return to the NCAA Tournament for the 4th time in 8 years under coach Johnny Jones.
305. Rider Broncs- Last Season Ranking: 253
Conference: MAAC
Player to know: Flash Burton
The Broncs underachieved a bit last year. This year, Rider and head coach Kevin Badgett went back to the drawing board to infuse the roster with talent through the transfer portal quickly. They are a middle-of-the-pack MAAC team.