NCAAB · 10 months ago

Most Disappointing Teams of the College Basketball Season

David Connelly

Host · Writer

5. Villanova
We may be witnessing the end of the Kyle Neptune era at Villanova. The Wildcats have been off to a wildly inconsistent start to the season, falling to Columbia and St. Joseph's while also notching a victory over Cincinnati earlier this month. They were able to get off to a positive start in Big East play with a win over Seton Hall, and those are the games they need to claim. We know they have the ceiling to compete with the big boys under Neptune, just look at his wins over North Carolina, Texas Tech, and Creighton last year. They need to avoid any further bad losses in conference play if they want to contend for an at-large bid.
1. Wake Forest
It's hard to argue that there has been a bigger disappointment in college basketball through the first six weeks than Wake Forest. After it was announced that star guard Hunter Sallis would return to the program, the expectations became a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. Those aspirations have faded away for now as the Demon Deacons have been miserable against high-end competition outside of a victory over Michigan. They have had some seriously close calls in some buy games against poor teams as well, and it has seriously damaged their metrics, plummeting them outside of KenPom's top 100.
2. Creighton
Nobody in the world could have seen this coming. Creighton was considered a legitimate contender to compete for the Big East crown in 2024-25 with the return of Preseason Big East Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner and Preseason All-Big East Third Team selection Steven Ashworth. They brought in some stud transfers in Pop Isaacs and Jamiya Neal, and it felt like the program's best chance at its first-ever Final Four. A no-show in their rivalry matchup against Nebraska, two losses at the Players Era Festival, and back-to-back defeats to Alabama and Georgetown have sunk them outside KenPom's top 60. Time is ticking on the Bluejays and they need to find their stride quickly before it's too late.
3. Syracuse
Head coach Red Autry showed fans some potential flashes of his coaching ability in his debut season with wins over North Carolina and Miami and a sweep over Final Four participant North Carolina State. Any hope he built up last season has been diminished in non-conference play this year, sitting at 5-5 with a road loss to Notre Dame and a home defeat to rival Georgetown. Their stud guard, JJ Starling, has missed their past four games with a left-hand injury, and his return is unknown. There simply isn't enough talent on this roster to make up for that loss, and it's been noticeable in this recent stretch.
4. Minnesota
It wasn't like the Golden Gophers were projected to be world-beaters in 2024-25, but the floor has just gotten lower and lower with each performance. After opening the season at 61st in KenPom, they are now all the way down to 114th. They have dropped four of five, including finishing in last place at the ESPN Events Invitational and falling to 0-2 in Big Ten play. Until someone else can step up and give Dawson Garcia some help on the offensive end, it could continue to be a long season for Ben Johnson and Minnesota.

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5. Villanova
We may be witnessing the end of the Kyle Neptune era at Villanova. The Wildcats have been off to a wildly inconsistent start to the season, falling to Columbia and St. Joseph's while also notching a victory over Cincinnati earlier this month. They were able to get off to a positive start in Big East play with a win over Seton Hall, and those are the games they need to claim. We know they have the ceiling to compete with the big boys under Neptune, just look at his wins over North Carolina, Texas Tech, and Creighton last year. They need to avoid any further bad losses in conference play if they want to contend for an at-large bid.
1. Wake Forest
It's hard to argue that there has been a bigger disappointment in college basketball through the first six weeks than Wake Forest. After it was announced that star guard Hunter Sallis would return to the program, the expectations became a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. Those aspirations have faded away for now as the Demon Deacons have been miserable against high-end competition outside of a victory over Michigan. They have had some seriously close calls in some buy games against poor teams as well, and it has seriously damaged their metrics, plummeting them outside of KenPom's top 100.

Most Disappointing Teams of the College Basketball Season

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