90. UC-Irvine Anteaters - Last Season Ranking: 103
Conference: Big West
UC Irvine and head coach Russ Turner win many games every year, and they do it in the most unorthodox way. The Anteaters rarely shoot threes; they take 72% of their shots from inside the arc and do so with high efficiency. Irvine also plays its entire bench almost 10 minutes a game. This year, the Anteaters are the favorite in the Big West again and have the majority of the roster returning. Justin Hohn is one of the best players in the league.
89. Georgetown Hoyas - Last Season Ranking: 158
Conference: Big East
The Hoyas are in a full-on rebuild, and head coach Ed Cooley is getting elite talent to come to Georgetown again. Last year was a disaster with the media scrutiny surrounding Cooley and his decision to leave, to the roster not performing, and then there was the loss to Holy Cross. The 2024-2025 season may be a little better, but Georgetown has a lot of freshmen in a tough league. Be patient. Jayden Epps might lead the Big East in scoring.
88. San Francisco Dons - Last Season Ranking: 101
Conference: West Coast
For about a decade, the Dons have dominated everyone in the West Coast Conference except Gonzaga and St. Mary’s, allowing them to finish near the top of the league and qualify for postseason tournaments. San Francisco doesn’t need to beat those teams to qualify for the tournament, and this year’s roster is one to keep an eye on as a possible sleeper. Ryan Beasley is ready for his breakout year.
87. UAB Blazers - Last Season Ranking: 90
Conference: American Athletic
UAB made the NCAA tournament last season by getting hot and winning the American tournament. The Blazers almost beat San Diego State as well. Heading into the 2024-2025 season, coach Andy Kennedy bolstered the roster with many quality transfers who can all score and fill a stat sheet. The Blazers want to make sure they stay on top in the American. Yaxel Lendeborg averaged a double-double last season.
86. West Virginia Mountaineers - Last Season Ranking: 85
Conference: Big 12
West Virginia was a mess last year. They only won nine games and had to deal with injuries to key players all year long. The Mountaineers hit a home run with their new coaching hire, Darien DeVries. He hit the ground running, bringing in much talent to Morgantown. West Virginia has many experienced players and a lot of scoring and depth. Tucker DeVries is an elite scorer and will do it in the Big 12, too.
85. Colorado Buffaloes - Last Season Ranking: 59
Conference: Big 12
Colorado made the Sweet 16 last year and had one of the oldest rosters in the Pac-12. Colorado is back in the Big 12 again after the collapse of their old league,, and they enter the season with one of the youngest and most inexperienced rosters in the league. It is never good to be young and inexperienced in one of the deepest leagues in the country. The Buffaloes may struggle this year. Julian Hammond III has the most experience of any Colorado player.
84. North Texas Mean Green - Last Season Ranking: 88
Conference: American Athletic
It was the same old North Texas under head coach Ross Hodge. There wasn’t much philosophical change in style of play from former coach Grant McCasland. The issue was the talent level decreased. Now that coach Hodge is in his second season, his goal is to improve the offense and make North Texas more consistent. He got some older transfers to go along with the returning players. Latrell Jossell is the player with the highest ceiling for the Mean Green.
83. Penn State Nittany Lions- Last Season Ranking: 92
Conference: Big Ten
It wouldn’t take long for Penn State to start winning games under head coach Mike Rhoades. The Nittany Lions got a lot better last year as the year went on and ended up finishing in 9th in the Big Ten. Given that Penn State had an impressive new roster. This year's roster is much better, and the freshman class is impressive. A winning record is not impossible. Ace Baldwin is one of the best point guards in the country.
82. Butler Bulldogs - Last Season Ranking: 95
Conference: Big East
Butler turned a corner last year, and head coach Thad Matta has them moving in the right direction. They were a tough out in the Big East and were a bubble team most of the year. The Bulldogs did get beat by Minnesota in the first round of the NIT, but it was a huge step forward from where the program was. There is a lot to like with this year's Bulldogs. Finley Bizjack has an extremely high ceiling and will be a star in the Big East.
81. Saint Joseph’s Hawks - Last Season Ranking: 110
Conference: Atlantic 10
The Hawks may have finally gotten it going under head coach Billy Lange. Saint Joseph’s finally won over 20 games for the first time since 2015-2016, and the next step for the Hawks is to make the NCAA tournament again. That could be a real possibility this season. Saint Joseph’s has its two stars returning and got two great transfers to round out its starting lineup. Erik Reynolds will average over 15 points a game this year.
80. Seton Hall Pirates - Last Season Ranking: 56
Conference: Big East
Seton Hall was one of the first four teams out of the tournament and won the NIT. Head coach Shaheen Holloway has the Pirates rolling and looking like a perennial power in the Big East conference. The roster has mostly new faces but is loaded with talent, and coach Holloway can win with anyone. Seton Hall is a bubble team all year again. Chaunce Jenkins was a star at Old Dominion.
79. Nevada Wolf Pack - Last Season Ranking: 72
Conference: Mountain West
The Wolf Pack have made the NCAA tournament two seasons in a row, each time it was as an at-large. Steve Alford has done a good job continuing the upward trend of Nevada basketball and has gotten to the point where they will be given the benefit of the doubt every season. The roster has a lot of older returning players and a lot of younger high-ceiling guys. Nick Davidson will be first-team all-conference this year.
78. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - Last Season Ranking: 112
Conference: ACC
It was the same old thing for the Yellow Jackets in the first year of current head coach Damon Stoudamire, with a lot of losing, but there were many things to be optimistic about. The young players showed that they could play ACC basketball, and Georgia Tech was able to land some big-time transfers to make the roster much better. Baye Ndongo is looking to build off a fantastic freshman year.
77. SMU Mustangs - Last Season Ranking: 93
Conference: ACC
SMU had a great final season in the American, winning 20 games and qualifying for the NIT. That needed to be better, though, and the administration decided to go a different way as they headed into the ACC. New head coach Andy Enfield had some success at USC before things went south there. The roster is full of former mid-major stars and high-major role players. Kevin Miller averaged 16 points a game for Wake Forest last year.
76. Loyola-Chicago Ramblers- Last Season Ranking: 79
Conference: Atlantic 10
It took a one-year adjustment period for the Ramblers, but they finished on top of the Atlantic 10 last season after finishing in last place the season before. The Ramblers never do anything flashy and don’t have five-star players all over the roster. Loyola Chicago is well-coached, plays great defense, and shoots at a high percentage. They also recruit to their style better than anyone in the country. Des Watson is one of the best shooters in the A10.