During the first month of college basketball, there have been some teams that have defied expectations and others that fell short of expectations. We will highlight 5 teams that have surprised this season and 5 teams that have disappointed this season.
Surprise Teams
James Madison
The Dukes are without a doubt one of the best stories of the college basketball season so far. They surprised many by upsetting then #4 Michigan State on the road as 15 point underdogs. James Madison then followed up their opening night victory with a 2OT win against Kent State on the road. The Dukes finished 22-11 last season and have a chance to be in the at-large conversation this year. They also have a very balanced rotation with 5 players averaging double figures so far this season.
Colorado State
Colorado State finished a disappointing 15-18 last season, but it was a year headlined by many injuries. The Rams have looked the part this year so far headlined by all-American candidate Isaiah Stevens. Colorado State has beaten some solid mid major teams in Louisiana Tech and Wright State among a couple others. They also secured high major wins against the likes of Creighton, Boston College, and in state rival Colorado. The Rams were picked 5th in the Mountain West preseason poll, but already look better than their preseason prediction.
BYU
The Cougars have to be the most surprising high major team of the season so far. BYU was picked 13th out of 14 teams in the Big 12 preseason poll. They didn’t have a great year in the WCC last season ending with a 19-15 record and missing the tournament. They seem to be playing much better basketball this season and their efficiency numbers reflect that. BYU is another team that’s very well balanced and have seen guys like Noah Waterman and Jaxon Robinson step up this season. The jury’s still out on how BYU will fare in conference play, but they’ve looked extremely impressive in the month of November.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is another Big 12 team that has been impressive to start the season. The Sooners are 7-0 and have played a mostly weak schedule with 5 of the wins coming against sub 200 teams in Kenpom. They do have impressive neutral court wins over Iowa and USC which landed them on this list. Oklahoma is another team that was picked low in the preseason poll coming in at 12th according to media members. Otega Oweh has really stepped up this season as a true #1 option.
Princeton
The Tigers have rolled through their non-conference schedule despite losing 2 critical pieces to their Sweet 16 run last season in Tosan Evbuomwan and Ryan Langborg. Princeton has quality road wins at Old Dominion, Hofstra, and Duquesne in addition to a neutral court win over Rutgers. Princeton does have a few tough games coming up with Furman, Drexel, and St. Joe’s. Xaivian Lee has looked like one of the most improved players in the country this season and Matt Allocco has also stepped up. It will be tough for Princeton to replicate what they did last season making the second weekend, but they do have the roster to do it.
Surprise Team Honorable Mentions: George Washington, Northern Illinois, Oakland, McNeese, UIC, Evansville
Disappointing Teams
Saint Mary’s
I still believe that the Gaels will have a solid season in the WCC and if they turn it around could still even get an at large bid. However, the start to the season has been less than ideal for Randy Bennett’s squad. They blew a 16 point lead to Weber State at home and the wheels have started to fall off after that. They lost in blowout fashion to SDSU and Xavier in back to back games. They also recently lost at home to a solid Utah team to finish their November with a 3-4 record. The bright spot of their season has been a 14 point win over a good New Mexico team at home. They still have opportunities for some resume wins coming up.
Maryland
The Terps are a team that has looked out of sorts earlier in the season. They have the shocking back to back neutral losses to UAB and Davidson. They also have a 17 point loss to Villanova where they couldn’t really get any offense going. They have fallen 36 spots in Kenpom since the preseason rankings release. Maryland still has time to turn it around and face a vulnerable Indiana team on the road tonight. Maryland has been atrocious shooting from beyond the arc shooting only 23.8% which is bottom 10 in the country.
Vanderbilt
I understand that the Commodores have had some injuries and other team issues going on. However, some of their losses most notably an opening night loss to Presbyterian are unacceptable. Vandy has also recently lost 3 games in a row to NC State, Arizona State, and Boston College. Vandy finds themselves ranked 194 in Kenpom and have fallen 117 spots in the rankings since the preseason. Vandy has the talent when healthy to at least be a respectable team, but the way they performed so far raises many questions. Stackhouse has never made the tournament at Vandy and it’s looking like another one of those years in Nashville.
Siena
The Saints did lose a lot from last years team that won 17 games, but they’ve looked really rough to start the 2023-24 campaign. Siena was picked 4th in the MAAC preseason poll and has lost multiple winnable games in blowout fashion. Siena has been battling some injury issues but they haven’t even been competitive in most of their games this season. They have fallen all the way to 356 in Kenpom which would rank them as the 7th worst team in the country.
DePaul
It seems weird to have a team on here that really has no expectations and is known for being one of the worst high majors in the sport year after year. The Blue Demons have been much worse than expected this season ending their November with a 1-5 record with the lone win being against South Dakota. They have already lost buy games to Northern Illinois, Long Beach State, and Purdue Fort Wayne. It’s looking like this is the last year of the Tony Stubblefield experiment in Chicago. DePaul takes on Iowa State tonight which is a game that could get ugly with the stifling defense on the Cyclones coming into Wintrust Arena.