NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 8 teams in 2024 Cayman Islands Classic

2. Boston College Eagles 

2023-24 season record: 20-16 (8-12 ACC)

Due to being the lone power conference team in the field, the Eagles should have a good chance to win the Cayman Islands Classic. But they’ve shown to be very vulnerable in non-con matchups against mid-majors and will have to replace its star big man, Quinten Post. The top five scorers overall are gone, leading freshman guard Donald Hand as the key returning piece.

Boston College did add some good transfers, including St. Bonaventure starting center Chad Venning, along with Dion Brown, who averaged 19.0 ppg and 7.6 rpg at UMBC as a 6’3 guard. They’ll need him and Clemson transfer Joshua Beadle to be instant impact players to have a chance in the ACC next season but in this field, it should be enough to contend for the title.

1. Boise State Broncos

2023-24 season record: 22-11 (13-5 Mountain West)

If we were ranking the coaches in this field, Leon Rice would be No. 1 by a mile, as one of the more underrated head coaches in all of NCAA Basketball. He’s looking to take the Broncos back to another postseason appearance, bringing back star forward and leading scorer, Tyson Degenhart. O’Mar Stanley is the other returning key piece back, giving the team the best frontcourt in this field.

The starting guard duo of Max Rice and Roddie Anderson are gone but Boise State was able to replace them with San Jose State transfer guard Alvaro Cardenas and former NAIA All-American wing, Javan Buchanan.

We saw last season Utah State using the three wins from this event to propel itself into a spot in the NCAA Tournament, Boise State is hoping to make it two straight from the Mountain West. However, there are a few other teams capable of giving the Broncos a real fight when they get together in November.