19. Kyle Smith (Stanford)
Before last season, Stanford had endured eight seasons under Jerod Haase without a single trip to the NCAA Tournament. In his first year in Palo Alto, Smith might just have a road to the Big Dance in his first season on campus. He’s made a habit out of this, creating turnarounds in each of his first three head coaching jobs at Columbia, San Francisco, and Washington State, leading the Cougars in breaking a long NCAA Tournament drought last season.
After two straight seasons under .500, Stanford accepted a major challenge when they joined the ACC and they’re actually faring solidly at this point. They have a few head-scratching performances, but 13-6 is definitely a better record than many expected and includes true road wins at Santa Clara and, most recently, North Carolina. Their 5-3 mark in the ACC isn’t as impressive as in other years, but the Cardinal are absolutely going in the right direction.
Smith’s team was picked to finish 17th in the ACC and they’ll unquestionably exceed those conference expectations. We’re not saying that this team is going to vie for the conference crown, but Stanford has the potential to sneak into the Big Dance in Smith’s first season. They’ll certainly need to play more consistently away from home, which is tough for a West Coast team adjusting to life on the Atlantic Coast, but there’s real potential here both this year and in the future.