These 10 College Basketball Teams Aren’t as Good as Their Rankings
David Connelly
Host · Writer
We break down the ten most overrated teams in college basketball right now, an area where you could consider fading these teams down the stretch of the season!
1. Gonzaga
It’s a bit difficult to call a one-loss team overrated at this point of the season, but we’re just looking to pump the brakes a tad on Gonzaga and any national championship contender discussion. They are the only team in the top ten of the NET with fewer than four Quad 1 wins, and their most prominent spot of the season was a neutral-site matchup against Michigan, where they were boatraced in a 40-point blowout. The frontcourt is the biggest concern here, and someone like Braeden Smith will need to step up a bit more going forward for this team to make a jump.
2. Kentucky
It just has not gone to plan for Kentucky in Year 2 of the Mark Pope era, and it feels like there is still a group of college hoops followers waiting for the switch to flick on for the Wildcats down the stretch here. Let’s just save you the time: It won’t. This team has shown very little cohesion and consistency throughout the season, and it has largely looked like a group of talented players wearing the same uniform rather than a team out on the court. Barring some dramatic changes from Pope over the next two months, it’s not looking likely that Kentucky will be in the NCAA Tournament for very long come March.
3. Iowa
While Iowa remains a metric darling, sitting inside the top 20 on KenPom, the results just have not been there. At some point, the wins and losses have to count for something. Just one Quad 1 win will not do well for their seeding come March, and it’s shown that they struggle to compete with the best of the best in the Big Ten and around the country. They could be a quick exit in the NCAA Tournament, and they are not far from being on the bubble heading into February.
4. Indiana
Indiana is an entertaining team under first-year head coach Darian DeVries. Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries are as exciting a one-two punch as you will find in the sport, but the Hoosiers just haven’t shown up in the big spots this season. Their best win of the year so far is a home victory over Washington, with five losses in Quad 1, none by five points or fewer. They need to get some resumé-building wins that they can hang their hat on before they start to slide to the wrong side of the bubble.
5. Texas
Wins over Alabama and Vanderbilt in the past week have gone a long way toward Texas’s resumé, but we still aren’t quite convinced of their overall ability. The Longhorns were able to keep some of their predictive metrics afloat thanks to a soft non-conference schedule, which featured blowout wins over inferior opponents. At the same time, they failed to take care of business against any notable programs. It’s clear that Sean Miller is still figuring things out in his first year with the program, but we just aren’t seeing any ceiling in the overall body of work.
6. Wisconsin
This feels like a typical Greg Gard team. He has consistently demonstrated a high floor during his time at the helm in Madison. Still, he can never reasonably be considered a real threat at the Final Four or even a national championship contender. Their crowning jewel, and perhaps the best win any team has in the sport right now, is their victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor. That may be worth a full seed line on Selection Sunday on its own, but it remains their lone Quad 1 victory on the season. A bit more consistency against high-end opponents would go a long way for the Badgers.
7. Louisville
After looking like a true ACC contender heading into conference play, the wheels have come off a bit for Louisville over the past three weeks. The Cardinals suffered a tough loss to Stanford on the road just after the New Year, and then followed it up with a no-show in a massive home spot against Duke. They now sit at 3-3 in conference play and will likely have to scrap to receive a double-bye for the ACC Tournament. A quick rematch against Duke at Cameron Indoor next Monday will tell us a lot about how resilient this group can be.
8. Georgia
We are going to learn everything we need to know about this Georgia team in the final two months of the regular season, a period absolutely loaded with opportunities for the Bulldogs to build their resumé. Due to one of the softest non-conference schedules in the country and a relaxed start to SEC play, we just haven’t seen this team be battle-tested too often, as they have played just three Quad 1 opponents to date. It may be a bit harsh to call this team overrated rather than just an unknown. Still, we are not comfortable considering them a legitimate NCAA Tournament team until we see them take on some quality competition.
9. Baylor
Injuries have plagued this frontcourt, and it has shown on the defensive end and on the glass. The Bears have been in a complete freefall since Big 12 play started, dropping four of five and pushing themselves closer and closer to the bubble. The controversial acquisition of former NBA player James Nnaji has not had the immediate impact some expected, and it’s starting to feel like panic time in Waco. Unless Scott Drew can pull off a coaching masterclass, we fear that Baylor could be on its way to missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
10. Miami Ohio
This is becoming one of the best stories within this college basketball season. The RedHawks are just one of three undefeated teams remaining in the entire country, along with Arizona and Nebraska, something nobody saw coming in the preseason. Despite this, they remain over 30 spots behind Akron, the top team in the MAC on KenPom. The reality is that Miami Ohio has won six games by single digits, including two in overtime. As we get deeper into the grind of conference play, that first loss will eventually come, and the shine may quickly wear off for this team on a national scale, and perhaps even in the locker room.
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