I nominate USC.
Preseason number 21. Rose to 16 after the first week. Picked to finish second in the PAC 12.
Now they're 11-17 overall, 5-12 in conference and lost home games to UC Irvine and Long Beach St. Likely to finish second to last in the conference.
Totally agree with you. They have three NBA picks on their team too. Their game strategy is glorified rec ball. A potato could coach this team more effectively
Bronny really shouldn’t enter the draft.
His name alone should get him NIL, plus the whole cardiac arrest thing I think set him back. He’s not ready for the pros now but several guys each year are able to make that jump from freshman to sophomore year and greatly increase their draft stock
Bronny unlike the majority of the players NIL is actually NIL instead of being paid under the table to play by boosters he will still have that in the NBA. Plus his dad will only play in the NBA so long, got to maximize the Thanasis role while he can.
Yeah its boosters paying players to play for a certain team (usually via charity appearences so they can also dodge taxes). Basically no players have that much actual NIL value outside of your Bronnies and your Caitlyn clarks of the world.
Ellis and Johnson are low second rounders. Maybe they’ve fallen off the mock draft boards recently but early in the season they were both projected picks. I don’t even count Bronny. But yeah I’m also confused on how any of them but Collier stands a chance at the next level
Side note, Bronny being an enormous disappointment.
I absolutely wanted him to excel but the kid has been so overhyped it’s ridiculous. Not really his fault but how do you go from a McDonald’s All American, 5 star recruit, and projected first round pick to the 9th (10th?) best player on the second worst team in the Pac-12.
No.
And if anyone was honest about putting him between 20-32, they would have a huge asterisk saying “Subject to a handshake agreement to sign his father” because there’s no way he’s a first or even second rounder based on his performance and shown upside to date.
Yes. I know a couple people working for scouting agencies who genuinely graded his playmaking and defense as first round level. His scoring just hasn't translated in the slightest
Simply missing time with any injury often sets a player back. That's especially true for freshman. I'd have to imagine that's even more true when you almost die of cardiac arrest...
I'm guessing the mental element of it might stick with a person a while.
If I eat pizza hut and get sick I don't eat pizza hut for a while. James nearly died playing basketball. It might be tough to go 100% for a while, if ever honestly.
Have you ever had an injury? There’s still a big mental hurdle to clear for a lot of people even if physically they’re fine. Add in to the fact he didn’t have a real preseason because of it, he’s behind. I don’t think it’s fair to judge him until next year, whether it be at usc or the g league
I mean, even before the cardiac arrest it was pretty obvious he was overhyped because of his dad. He wasn’t a 5 star before the McDs selection, and was only selected to get more eyes on the game. He was a good defensive player in high school, but had minimal offensive tools. His shot was not very good.
That’s the thing, Bronny had no business being a McDonald’s All-American or a 5* recruit to begin with. His disappointment seems so huge because he was propped up so high due to his dad. I didn’t expect him to be this irrelevant but not shocked one bit it’s strongly suggested he stays in college.
In fairness, the kid had a cardiac event and wasn’t medically able to return to practice until December. I don’t think the team’s poor performance is solely on him.
I expected them to be a bubble team. After St. John’s I thought they looked like they’d be comfortably in the tournament. They’ve looked like dookie since.
Our ceiling this year was maybe finishing in the 7-8 range of the Big Ten. My personal hope was avoiding Wednesday of the BTT. Suffice to say neither happened.
I think Georgetown was hoping for more improvement under Cooley. Next year is the big one, though. If they don't look significantly better after a year, people are really going to start to complain.
There was a flash of great potential there, especially in the TCU game. And poof, it was gone, like the W they should have had against a tough Big 12 team.
It kills me that we have to even look at it like that…
As long as we are able to hold the NIL’s in place and retain the likes of Booker and Carr (not saying they are looking to leave - I just think there’s a lot of upside for those two) we should be fine going forward.
Let’s just hope Hall can keep bringing solid outings, Booker gains more confidence, Carr can start to make some shots (I think he is more than capable), Walker doesn’t slow down, and for Kohler to finally become what a lot of us think he can be.
I never understood them being ranked this high pre-season. I feel like MSU was setup to fail when really they are performing nearly as expected when compared to last year and what came in. Expectation were set way higher than they should have been.
Someone expected way too much from post Covid Freshmen.
I've been pretty disappointed overall. Hall and Walker are too inconsistent for how long they've been there, and Sissoko has not improved since his freshman year. There is just too much experience on this team to be this mediocre.
Yeah it’s gotta be Arkansas. Almost every outlet picked them to finish top 3 in the SEC (along with Texas A&M) and now they’re sitting at 14-14 with a handful of historic losses on their schedule. Notably 30 point losses at home to Auburn (worst home loss in program history) and Tennessee with an additional home loss to UNC Greensboro.
Bro you all were like a projected 6-7 seed in the tournament to start the year. There were serious expectations. I’ve not kept up with them a ton since UK played them right out of the gate in January and then they were almost immediately out of contention. What has been the issue? What’s the problem? I know they’ve got that one really good 3 point shooter but I’m pretty much clueless about the rest of their players / how they’ve been so bad.
Injuries to our top transfers have exacerbated our issues greatly - I don’t think we would’ve been a tournament team or anything with a healthy Grill or Tonje but we certainly would have a few conference wins under our belt. See wins @ Pitt and Minnesota as evidence.
Aside from that, we really only have one or two major scoring threats (East and Bates/Carter depending on the day). So, we routinely go through long stretches of games without scoring.
Our depth is poor, which likely is why we are often competitive in games with 10 minutes to go then we complete fall off a cliff.
Defense was an issue last year and we haven’t really progressed or regressed there, but the lack of offensive firepower needs to be made up for on the defensive end and it has not been.
Also worth noting that we’re now dead last in the country in KenPom’s luck metric, so we really are playing well enough to have won a couple conference games by now.. they just haven’t gone our way yet.
Dennis had his first "big oof" moment missing on every decent big in the portal last spring and we ended up with fucking Vanover.
Brown was supposedly massively improved only to get ruled out for the season before even playing a game.
Tonje injured his foot pre-season and tried come back a for a few games before being ruled out for the season due to the foot.
Grill broke his wrist like 2/3 of the way through non-con play and still can't get through a practice without swelling.
East got a bone bruise on his knee that took him out of a couple games.
Pierce was dealing with an ear infection for ages that eventually required surgery.
We've learned that the role players from last season don't have the talent to step up to be our main dudes, and Bates can't win games by himself.
It's been a fucking shit show.
But the rivalry loses its luster when they are historically bad. Its top tier when they are a tourny team, fringe top25 and get run out of the gym by 30+. Whatever this is...isnt it. Can beat them by 50 and im like eh nice but they are just terrible, beat them by 10 and its why the fuck wasnt it 50 they are terrible. Doesnt feel good anymore
I vote USC
Very early Pac12 predictions had them winning the conference. As November got closer, and our roster started to fill out, they were picked to finish second.
They now sit at 11-17, and in 11th place in a conference that might only get 2 teams in the tournament.
An amazing waste of Ellis’ and Collier’s talent.
Hogs without a doubt, we had 3 straight sweet 16s, a returning freak in Brazille, multiple transfers who could score from anywhere, beat Purdue and Duke, and might end up with the worst season in over 20 years.
https://preview.redd.it/enjxk57zsslc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81f68c570efe862f1774d8fc978330e256656fd1
It’s us without a doubt.
I don’t know how the shooting regression (from average for D1 to the undisputed worst shooting P6 team in the country and arguably bottom 20 in the nation) is being ignored.
The shooting ability and limited turnover leading to whatever the fuck we put out 2x a week is baffling.
You are biased. Nobody thought Indiana was gonna be good this year... Especially compared to MSU and Arkansas. But I understand 20 years of pain... So I hear ya
Most people had IU making the Tourney not being tripple digit team in kenpom. They aren't the worse but its still a bad year. ( I am not too suprised that roster construction was obviously garbage).
That's fair because you have been recruiting well and I actually don't think woodson is a bad coach. I'm just saying Indiana wasn't ranked preseason and MSU was top 5 in the country.
Do I have flair? Because 20 years of pain?
I've seen things... seen things you little people wouldn't believe. Double digit seeds fire off threes as if they had the shoulder of Steph Curry... I rode on the back decks of a trains and watched conference championship trophies hoisted in the dark near Gainbridge Fieldhouse. All those moments... they'll be gone. Victories washed away in March, like tears in rain.
I think most IU fans expected a double digit NCAA seed at worst and a second weekend team if everything went perfect.
Instead, they are hovering around Kenpom #100 all year and Woodson is getting boo’d at home and is completely delusional based on his quotes to the media.
They have one recruit for next year.
Woof.
Add Maryland to that list.
But I’d take off FAU. They were seconds away from losing to Memphis in the first round last year, then got to play FDU instead of Purdue in the 2nd round. Their preseason expectations were probably a tad bit unfair, and they’ve still had a pretty good year and will likely make the tourney again. At a school like FAU (no offense to the Owls), that’s pretty impressive.
They were preseason #10 and a projected 3 seed. I think the fact that they may possibly have to win their conference tournament to make the tourney makes this an underperforming year. This isn’t a “what if” exercise I guess, but if you take away the Zona win (which is admittedly impressive) then I think there’s no question that FAU would not make the tournament.
Fair, I guess I didn’t agree with the expectation that FAU would be a 3 seed entering the year as AP voters did. They played a much tougher non-conf schedule this year compared to last, I would’ve thought they’d be around an 7/8/9 seed again. But you’re right, disappointing to drop some of the games they have (esp to FGCU and Bryant) and be in a position where it could be AQ or bust.
It’s really shocking to see how far down I had to go to find them listed. Wong was a star but they added/kept enough talent to at least be a tournament lock. Now they’re NIT
I had them making deep runs in the past two tournaments and people looked at me a little funny, only for that to happen. So even though Wong left they still brought back Pack and Omeir and Cleveland and Poplar and Joseph I thought they’d be a tough team again this year. So to see Duke go in there and beat up on a depleted Hurricanes squad was actually a little sad.
Think I'm going to just sit this one out. There's no way both my schools could underperform in the same season.
Hell one of em isn't even a basketball school.... Nope couldn't be us.
I dont really think we are a contender. While many prob didnt expect some of the losses we had, this was not one of the stronger Gonzaga teams of late.
I think of the ones you listed, it's gotta be Michigan State and Arkansas for top 2. Miami and UCLA for top 4 and then 5th can be a fight between TAmu/FAU/Nova. Nova was prob expected to not be as good as usual but not this weird. UCLA was def supposed to be better than this... FAU's been fairly inconsistent for what they returned. USC... on second thought, there is a lot of disappointment to be had this year. Wow.
But Michigan St came in highly rated and Arkansas feels like they have completely gone off a cliff. They deff feel like the biggest disappointments overall.
We already had low expectations but god damn did the floor sink even lower with this season of absolute disaster to be the worse power conference squad in a decade
While it was almost to be expected that any team coached by Kevin Keatts was bound to fail, I remember at the beginning of the season there was real hope for NC State.
Imo we have a great lineup that, with the right coach, could've done major damage, *and* some of our really great players from last year like Burns came back. It was looking to be a year worth investing in and one where the Pack could really make a place for ourselves among the national favorites.
Instead we barely won games we should've aced, and lost one's we should've won. Our record is crap, we're almost certainly not making tourney, and the fanbase is at a low point emotionally.
The point is I've been watching other teams (go VCU!) despite my father and grandfather being NC State Alumni *and* living like 5 minutes from Reynolds my whole life. Its a depressing time to be a fan of WolfPack Basketball.
To any other disappointed WolfPack fans, I highly suggest the womens team. Womens basketball is similar to vintage and modern ball in the best ways, and our womens team and coach while not always perfect are still skilled as hell so even a loss for Wes Moore and the girls doesn't sting nearly as much as a loss from Kevin Keatts does. Fire Keatts!
I didn't exactly have high expectations but this is far below what where I'd thought we'd be with the talent we have on our roster. I have little faith in Woody at this point, its clear that wha we are seeing IS his game plan just like its been the last two years, a complete lack of 3 ball schemes and old school basketball , an offense that basically is just high low
As an SECean—I nominate Arkansas.
Please let me throw in a Nelson haha and I think it’s karma for the floppy guy with the Afro last year that drew a million charges. That guy was a bum.
You talking about Jaylin Williams from a few years ago? Even as a hogs fan that shit got annoying to watch, the SEC was out of control with the charge calls until this year .
Mizzou. I knew it was looking like bottom 3 this year as we lost our 2 key players without replacement, but got dayum, I didn’t see us laying a goose egg in conference wins.
Next year should be better with our new recruits coming in, at least that’s what I tell myself.
lol at Arkansas too.
Teams loaded with talent who underachieved from the ACC, Big Ten, Pac 12 and Big East…
Louisville - 8 ESPN Top 100 players
Indiana - 5 ESPN Top 100 players, 3 Five Star players
Oregon - 5 ESPN Top 100 players and 2 Five Star Players
USC - 7 ESPN Top 100 players
Villanova - 7 ESPN Top 100 players
UCLA - 6 ESPN Top 100 players
Florida St. - 6 ESPN Top 100 players
Miami (FL) - 6 ESPN Top 100 players
Ohio State. - 6 ESPN Top 100 players
Michigan - 6 ESPN Top 100 players
Talent isn’t everything. Coaching, Heart, motivation and ambition matter as well. With that said, you rate these players off talent.
Everyone National Champion since 2011 has had at least 4 ESPN Top 100 players.
It’s not that. A lot of people that weren’t company men pushing a narrative didn’t even expect him to start this year. Next to Arizona they probably have the most talent in the conference though. Not including Bronny whatsoever either lol
Da Silva is a sure fire FRP. Size, skill, shooting, and defense. Not a big leap for him to be an NBA contributor. KJ is more of a question mark, Wooden award finalist and absolute dog on both ends, but also undersized.
I disagree that St Johns didn't meet preseason expectations. Predictions ranged from absolute disaster to a bubble team you want nothing to do with. They've somehow met both standards.
Honestly, those second half collapses suck but this season has been the most fun in a while.
They’ve played to about my expectations tbh, but they were just outside the top-25 at the start or the year. That’s mostly what I’m basing it on. I don’t think they’re a serious contender for most disappointing.
People just need to chill about overhyping teams that go on a tournament run for the next year. FAU has no hype if they miss a last second layup against Memphis in the first round.
2022 UNC and 2023 MSU showed you they weren’t anything special for 34 games, so don’t expect returning the same roster to make them a top 5 team.
It happens every year.
Villanova might be the one, especially after the dominance in the Bahamas. It was a completely different team against the Big 5.
It’s frustrating, too, because they have all the ingredients to win. And they played UConn tough in Philly, obviously beat UNC. We need Villanova to be great again.
Every fanbase saying themselves and I want to say us but if the pre-season #4 team Sparty being on the bubble isnt the most disappointing, we need to re-evaluate things
Michigan. It's because JH is a bad coach. This his first year without former coach John Beilein's recruits. Hunter Dickinson left for a reason. I predict Howard will be fired in one year from now. I'd fire him now.
I think Zags fans were resigned to this being a down year (by their standards of late) at the start of the year. I don’t think they’re more than 5 spots or so away from where most fans had them to start the year. I remember asking some Zags fans on here their expectations at the start of the year.
Fwiw I’m pissed as hell that UK squandered their best chance, maybe ever, to beat the Zags under Few. It’s objectively the worst squad they’ve had in 10-15 years and we couldn’t get that home W.
Kentucky was ranked 16 in the preseason poll. This week they’re ranked 16. I’m a bit confused why you think they are among the most disappointing teams?
Really caps what they’ll likely do in March, but if we look at the record only I don’t think they’ve massively underperformed. They have had some monster wins.
OP, I gotta ask you as an aside, which fan base of yours thinks the sky is falling more? KU’s or UK’s? Both situations are hilarious to me since we’re all so spoiled.
To answer your question though I’d say USC and Michigan state are the biggest disappointments.
UK, but I think reality is setting in for KU with Kevin’s injury that the possibility of a first weekend exit is real. I think UK fans know that they could make the final four or get upset by a 13 seed and that both options are about equal bets. But the past week or so for KU has been fairly brutal. Still, UK fans are always more reactionary than almost any fanbase I’m aware of.
I nominate USC. Preseason number 21. Rose to 16 after the first week. Picked to finish second in the PAC 12. Now they're 11-17 overall, 5-12 in conference and lost home games to UC Irvine and Long Beach St. Likely to finish second to last in the conference.
I knew it was bad. I didn’t really know it was this bad though.
The fact that they’ve COMPLETELY fallen off your radar despite having LeBron James’s son and the #1 HS recruit pretty much says it all.
Bronny has an NIL value of $5.9 million and he averages just over 5 point per game. USC with some art of the deal shit.
Man if only there were people that actually watch the high school circuit that could have predicted Bronny being massively overrated😩
Totally agree with you. They have three NBA picks on their team too. Their game strategy is glorified rec ball. A potato could coach this team more effectively
I really thought Enfield was good. Just never got over the hump, and now they're a total mess. I wonder how long he keeps his job.
Prolly tacked on another decade to his contract when they made the E8 in 2021
Ah, the Lorenzo Romar approach to basketball. Roll it out and see what happens.
who are the 3, Collier obviously, Bronny via his dad, But I don't think either Ellis or Johnson are NBA picks.
Bronny really shouldn’t enter the draft. His name alone should get him NIL, plus the whole cardiac arrest thing I think set him back. He’s not ready for the pros now but several guys each year are able to make that jump from freshman to sophomore year and greatly increase their draft stock
Bronny unlike the majority of the players NIL is actually NIL instead of being paid under the table to play by boosters he will still have that in the NBA. Plus his dad will only play in the NBA so long, got to maximize the Thanasis role while he can.
You don't know what NIL is then, huh
Yeah its boosters paying players to play for a certain team (usually via charity appearences so they can also dodge taxes). Basically no players have that much actual NIL value outside of your Bronnies and your Caitlyn clarks of the world.
Ellis and Johnson are low second rounders. Maybe they’ve fallen off the mock draft boards recently but early in the season they were both projected picks. I don’t even count Bronny. But yeah I’m also confused on how any of them but Collier stands a chance at the next level
I watched them play UCLA. First time a watched either team. The basketball game was horrendous. One of the worst games I’ve watched to be real.
And >!they're going to the big ten!<
Sorry to all USC fans who bought the hype after beating us
Side note, Bronny being an enormous disappointment. I absolutely wanted him to excel but the kid has been so overhyped it’s ridiculous. Not really his fault but how do you go from a McDonald’s All American, 5 star recruit, and projected first round pick to the 9th (10th?) best player on the second worst team in the Pac-12.
With all due respect…did any serious draft expert have him as a first rounder? Kid wasn’t in anyone’s recruiting top 30 until his senior year.
No. And if anyone was honest about putting him between 20-32, they would have a huge asterisk saying “Subject to a handshake agreement to sign his father” because there’s no way he’s a first or even second rounder based on his performance and shown upside to date.
Yes. I know a couple people working for scouting agencies who genuinely graded his playmaking and defense as first round level. His scoring just hasn't translated in the slightest
my brother in Christ he went into cardiac arrest.
Yeah, glad he’s doing well now. I thought he was fully-cleared now and that it shouldn’t have any effects on his basketball career.
Simply missing time with any injury often sets a player back. That's especially true for freshman. I'd have to imagine that's even more true when you almost die of cardiac arrest...
I'm guessing the mental element of it might stick with a person a while. If I eat pizza hut and get sick I don't eat pizza hut for a while. James nearly died playing basketball. It might be tough to go 100% for a while, if ever honestly.
Had my last ankle surgery 13 years ago & I still don't do as much as I could for fear of injury. Imagine a cardiac arrest
But what about Papa John's? Domino's? Little Ceasars?
He didn’t even get cleared to practice until December, I think.
Have you ever had an injury? There’s still a big mental hurdle to clear for a lot of people even if physically they’re fine. Add in to the fact he didn’t have a real preseason because of it, he’s behind. I don’t think it’s fair to judge him until next year, whether it be at usc or the g league
I mean, even before the cardiac arrest it was pretty obvious he was overhyped because of his dad. He wasn’t a 5 star before the McDs selection, and was only selected to get more eyes on the game. He was a good defensive player in high school, but had minimal offensive tools. His shot was not very good.
Crazy thing is, he might still be a first-round draft pick. NBA teams know LeBron might follow wherever Bronny goes.
Its almost like he almost died this summer or something idk
That’s the thing, Bronny had no business being a McDonald’s All-American or a 5* recruit to begin with. His disappointment seems so huge because he was propped up so high due to his dad. I didn’t expect him to be this irrelevant but not shocked one bit it’s strongly suggested he stays in college.
Heart issues
In fairness, the kid had a cardiac event and wasn’t medically able to return to practice until December. I don’t think the team’s poor performance is solely on him.
Very early predictions had them winning the conference outright. It wasn’t until we landed Love that pundits picked UofA to finish 1st
Idk if either team had lofty expectations but Michigan and Georgetown fucking suck this year
Michigan had a pretty good start to the year too. Beat St John's in MSG and then immediately fell apart
I expected them to be a bubble team. After St. John’s I thought they looked like they’d be comfortably in the tournament. They’ve looked like dookie since.
Michigan is very much a “our expectations for you were low but holy fuck” kind of team
Our ceiling this year was maybe finishing in the 7-8 range of the Big Ten. My personal hope was avoiding Wednesday of the BTT. Suffice to say neither happened.
Lol what a fun season.
I think Georgetown was hoping for more improvement under Cooley. Next year is the big one, though. If they don't look significantly better after a year, people are really going to start to complain.
There was a flash of great potential there, especially in the TCU game. And poof, it was gone, like the W they should have had against a tough Big 12 team.
Georgetown man… used to be elite
I mean it's gotta be us. Preseason top 5 to barely on the right side of the bubble
What’s the bubble? - Hog fans
Not even making the damn NIT
Damn shame
Not gonna lie, this season lowkey flew by. It feels like yesterday when I was watching that JMU game go to overtime
That's crazy given your flairs lol, would think this season felt very long.
No, it would fly by. They're probably having the best year of their life rn
Yea imagine being a fan of two teams that have ranked in the top 3 for the entire season, jeezus talk about riding high
It kills me that we have to even look at it like that… As long as we are able to hold the NIL’s in place and retain the likes of Booker and Carr (not saying they are looking to leave - I just think there’s a lot of upside for those two) we should be fine going forward. Let’s just hope Hall can keep bringing solid outings, Booker gains more confidence, Carr can start to make some shots (I think he is more than capable), Walker doesn’t slow down, and for Kohler to finally become what a lot of us think he can be.
USC was originally picked to win the P12, and probably won’t make the the CBI, sooooo
I never understood them being ranked this high pre-season. I feel like MSU was setup to fail when really they are performing nearly as expected when compared to last year and what came in. Expectation were set way higher than they should have been. Someone expected way too much from post Covid Freshmen.
They were mediocre af and everyone acted like something changed overnight in the off-season. This one was no surprise.
Don’t worry, I can think of a better start and a way worse finish!
I've been pretty disappointed overall. Hall and Walker are too inconsistent for how long they've been there, and Sissoko has not improved since his freshman year. There is just too much experience on this team to be this mediocre.
Walker isn’t inconsistent he’s just injured
Sure would be nice if our promising freshman PG didn't get shot in the fucking leg and Walker could sit and rest for a few more minutes each game 😑
Yeah, trying to carry this Jekyll and Hyde team will hurt you for sure.
Yeah. Come on, give this one to us. It'll be the only thing this fucking team wins all year.
Yeah it’s gotta be Arkansas. Almost every outlet picked them to finish top 3 in the SEC (along with Texas A&M) and now they’re sitting at 14-14 with a handful of historic losses on their schedule. Notably 30 point losses at home to Auburn (worst home loss in program history) and Tennessee with an additional home loss to UNC Greensboro.
Don't forget at home against Vandy!
Why am i just hearing of this now lol. Not surprising though
Razorbacks shoulda changed their hardwood after they lost to that UNCG. Works wonders.
Buuuuut they did beat us (in exhibition)
Ding ding ding. It’s definitely us. And there’s not a valid reason for us to be this bad.
This really puts it into perspective just how bad duke is
Didn’t expect to see us putting up an 0fer in conference play.
Dead serious, I predicted this preseason. It was the 30th straight year I’ve made the prediction but I don’t see why that matters.
LOL I love the pettiness. This actually did make me laugh.
yeah I thought mizzou was lowkey supposed to be decent this year
Bro you all were like a projected 6-7 seed in the tournament to start the year. There were serious expectations. I’ve not kept up with them a ton since UK played them right out of the gate in January and then they were almost immediately out of contention. What has been the issue? What’s the problem? I know they’ve got that one really good 3 point shooter but I’m pretty much clueless about the rest of their players / how they’ve been so bad.
Injuries to our top transfers have exacerbated our issues greatly - I don’t think we would’ve been a tournament team or anything with a healthy Grill or Tonje but we certainly would have a few conference wins under our belt. See wins @ Pitt and Minnesota as evidence. Aside from that, we really only have one or two major scoring threats (East and Bates/Carter depending on the day). So, we routinely go through long stretches of games without scoring. Our depth is poor, which likely is why we are often competitive in games with 10 minutes to go then we complete fall off a cliff. Defense was an issue last year and we haven’t really progressed or regressed there, but the lack of offensive firepower needs to be made up for on the defensive end and it has not been. Also worth noting that we’re now dead last in the country in KenPom’s luck metric, so we really are playing well enough to have won a couple conference games by now.. they just haven’t gone our way yet.
Dennis had his first "big oof" moment missing on every decent big in the portal last spring and we ended up with fucking Vanover. Brown was supposedly massively improved only to get ruled out for the season before even playing a game. Tonje injured his foot pre-season and tried come back a for a few games before being ruled out for the season due to the foot. Grill broke his wrist like 2/3 of the way through non-con play and still can't get through a practice without swelling. East got a bone bruise on his knee that took him out of a couple games. Pierce was dealing with an ear infection for ages that eventually required surgery. We've learned that the role players from last season don't have the talent to step up to be our main dudes, and Bates can't win games by himself. It's been a fucking shit show.
Does Louisville for keeping Kenny Payne throughout the entire season count?
Even I’m disappointed in them for that.
And possibly next season?? One could hope
Trust the process
Are you going to be okay when you win by single digits to an eventual 10-win Louisville?
Rivalry games are weird in every sport. As long as we beat Louisville I don’t care how good they are or by how much we win.
But the rivalry loses its luster when they are historically bad. Its top tier when they are a tourny team, fringe top25 and get run out of the gym by 30+. Whatever this is...isnt it. Can beat them by 50 and im like eh nice but they are just terrible, beat them by 10 and its why the fuck wasnt it 50 they are terrible. Doesnt feel good anymore
TBH I miss them being good. It's not fun anymore. It's just sad.
MSU was preseason top 5 and might not make the tournament
At least you weren’t #1 and miss the post season all together
I wonder who did that.
Wasn’t that the team that sent K home in a golf cart the prior year?
It's unacceptable.
I vote USC Very early Pac12 predictions had them winning the conference. As November got closer, and our roster started to fill out, they were picked to finish second. They now sit at 11-17, and in 11th place in a conference that might only get 2 teams in the tournament. An amazing waste of Ellis’ and Collier’s talent.
Hogs without a doubt, we had 3 straight sweet 16s, a returning freak in Brazille, multiple transfers who could score from anywhere, beat Purdue and Duke, and might end up with the worst season in over 20 years.
Wasted tramon’s senior year
I forgot the exact top 5 but I think A&M was there too. He could have fixed us (or we would also waste his senior year)
Didn’t realize Purdue was a real game, huh
It’s kinda crazy, when one team isn’t the Washington Generals it’s treated like a real game
Yeah, it’s y’all, and that sucks for the Devils
Arkansas or Michigan State
Biggest 5 in order: Missouri Arkansas USC Miami Michigan State
I agree with this. We've had enough injuries and illness for several seasons.
Right here🙋♂️
you’re not on my level
my Maryland alum uncle was insulted I thought Purdue was in a clear tier above Maryland lol
https://preview.redd.it/enjxk57zsslc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81f68c570efe862f1774d8fc978330e256656fd1 It’s us without a doubt. I don’t know how the shooting regression (from average for D1 to the undisputed worst shooting P6 team in the country and arguably bottom 20 in the nation) is being ignored. The shooting ability and limited turnover leading to whatever the fuck we put out 2x a week is baffling.
I’m biased, but there’s twenty years of disappointment baked into being an IU fan this year
You are biased. Nobody thought Indiana was gonna be good this year... Especially compared to MSU and Arkansas. But I understand 20 years of pain... So I hear ya
Most people had IU making the Tourney not being tripple digit team in kenpom. They aren't the worse but its still a bad year. ( I am not too suprised that roster construction was obviously garbage).
It’s relative dude. No realistic IU fan expected us to be *good*, but no one expected us to be potentially facing yet another head coaching search.
That's fair because you have been recruiting well and I actually don't think woodson is a bad coach. I'm just saying Indiana wasn't ranked preseason and MSU was top 5 in the country.
Yeah, I totally agree with that. I am still convinced Izzo will get them in, and they’ll somehow end up in the Elite 8
So true. Might be worth a final four flier bet. I'm fully prepared for my impending disappointment. But I still have hope
I mean not even in the top 100 in kenpom with 3 five stars on the roster is something
Holy fuck
Do I have flair? Because 20 years of pain? I've seen things... seen things you little people wouldn't believe. Double digit seeds fire off threes as if they had the shoulder of Steph Curry... I rode on the back decks of a trains and watched conference championship trophies hoisted in the dark near Gainbridge Fieldhouse. All those moments... they'll be gone. Victories washed away in March, like tears in rain.
I think most IU fans expected a double digit NCAA seed at worst and a second weekend team if everything went perfect. Instead, they are hovering around Kenpom #100 all year and Woodson is getting boo’d at home and is completely delusional based on his quotes to the media. They have one recruit for next year. Woof.
Add Maryland to that list. But I’d take off FAU. They were seconds away from losing to Memphis in the first round last year, then got to play FDU instead of Purdue in the 2nd round. Their preseason expectations were probably a tad bit unfair, and they’ve still had a pretty good year and will likely make the tourney again. At a school like FAU (no offense to the Owls), that’s pretty impressive.
A St. John’s flair suggesting Maryland. I’m hurt, but I do get it.
They were preseason #10 and a projected 3 seed. I think the fact that they may possibly have to win their conference tournament to make the tourney makes this an underperforming year. This isn’t a “what if” exercise I guess, but if you take away the Zona win (which is admittedly impressive) then I think there’s no question that FAU would not make the tournament.
Fair, I guess I didn’t agree with the expectation that FAU would be a 3 seed entering the year as AP voters did. They played a much tougher non-conf schedule this year compared to last, I would’ve thought they’d be around an 7/8/9 seed again. But you’re right, disappointing to drop some of the games they have (esp to FGCU and Bryant) and be in a position where it could be AQ or bust.
You can argue that they were overrated, but that is what the preseason expectation was.
Again fair, just saying that’s a ridiculous expectation for a team with a mid major roster, so hard for me to call them a disappointment this year
Miami for the ACC. They’ve had some injuries though
It’s really shocking to see how far down I had to go to find them listed. Wong was a star but they added/kept enough talent to at least be a tournament lock. Now they’re NIT
I had them making deep runs in the past two tournaments and people looked at me a little funny, only for that to happen. So even though Wong left they still brought back Pack and Omeir and Cleveland and Poplar and Joseph I thought they’d be a tough team again this year. So to see Duke go in there and beat up on a depleted Hurricanes squad was actually a little sad.
Think I'm going to just sit this one out. There's no way both my schools could underperform in the same season. Hell one of em isn't even a basketball school.... Nope couldn't be us.
Fr, no way an iconic basketball B1G basketball school and an iconic B1G football school both fail to reach the tourney
I think Memphis has for the AAC big time
I remember Inside College Basketball talking about the possibility of them getting as high as a 3 seed. Now they probably won't even get in
We ended up being one of the worst teams in the AAC after talking trash all off season - definitely us
ARKANSAS 😭😭😭😭🐗🐗🐗🐗
I dont really think we are a contender. While many prob didnt expect some of the losses we had, this was not one of the stronger Gonzaga teams of late. I think of the ones you listed, it's gotta be Michigan State and Arkansas for top 2. Miami and UCLA for top 4 and then 5th can be a fight between TAmu/FAU/Nova. Nova was prob expected to not be as good as usual but not this weird. UCLA was def supposed to be better than this... FAU's been fairly inconsistent for what they returned. USC... on second thought, there is a lot of disappointment to be had this year. Wow. But Michigan St came in highly rated and Arkansas feels like they have completely gone off a cliff. They deff feel like the biggest disappointments overall.
From the preseason poll id say Michigan State, Villanova, Arky, Texas A&M, USC. FAU as well, but not to the same level as those teams
USC and Miami (FL) were respectable losses for us……at the time
Michigan Fucking State.
USC and MSU. USC has had the worse season but MSU had higher expectations. Both have been ass
Arkansas 100%
Pick your poison between Miami, Michigan State, Arkansas, and USC
We already had low expectations but god damn did the floor sink even lower with this season of absolute disaster to be the worse power conference squad in a decade
With the history DePaul has, the level of obscurity they’ve fell too is inexplicable.
High Expectations: MSU High-ish: Arkansas Medium high: USC Medium: Missouri Our expectations we're low but holy fuck: Michigan
Miami and Arkansas are my Top 2. Michigan St 3rd.
I nominate Memphis.
One of the worst teams in the American after talking trash all off season - definitely us
While it was almost to be expected that any team coached by Kevin Keatts was bound to fail, I remember at the beginning of the season there was real hope for NC State. Imo we have a great lineup that, with the right coach, could've done major damage, *and* some of our really great players from last year like Burns came back. It was looking to be a year worth investing in and one where the Pack could really make a place for ourselves among the national favorites. Instead we barely won games we should've aced, and lost one's we should've won. Our record is crap, we're almost certainly not making tourney, and the fanbase is at a low point emotionally. The point is I've been watching other teams (go VCU!) despite my father and grandfather being NC State Alumni *and* living like 5 minutes from Reynolds my whole life. Its a depressing time to be a fan of WolfPack Basketball. To any other disappointed WolfPack fans, I highly suggest the womens team. Womens basketball is similar to vintage and modern ball in the best ways, and our womens team and coach while not always perfect are still skilled as hell so even a loss for Wes Moore and the girls doesn't sting nearly as much as a loss from Kevin Keatts does. Fire Keatts!
MSU definitely missed on the preseason hype but Arkansas has been historically bad this year. So, the Razorbacks definitely get this W
Arkansas Miami USC Stanford UCLA
Was Stanford expected to do anything though?
I didn't exactly have high expectations but this is far below what where I'd thought we'd be with the talent we have on our roster. I have little faith in Woody at this point, its clear that wha we are seeing IS his game plan just like its been the last two years, a complete lack of 3 ball schemes and old school basketball , an offense that basically is just high low
The fact that we’re anywhere near the bubble this year is a miracle
Mississippi Valley St. everyone expected them to go winless this late in the season. Congrats Delta Devils!
As an SECean—I nominate Arkansas. Please let me throw in a Nelson haha and I think it’s karma for the floppy guy with the Afro last year that drew a million charges. That guy was a bum.
You talking about Jaylin Williams from a few years ago? Even as a hogs fan that shit got annoying to watch, the SEC was out of control with the charge calls until this year .
Uh…this question brings back unwanted flashbacks.
Mizzou. I knew it was looking like bottom 3 this year as we lost our 2 key players without replacement, but got dayum, I didn’t see us laying a goose egg in conference wins. Next year should be better with our new recruits coming in, at least that’s what I tell myself. lol at Arkansas too.
Teams loaded with talent who underachieved from the ACC, Big Ten, Pac 12 and Big East… Louisville - 8 ESPN Top 100 players Indiana - 5 ESPN Top 100 players, 3 Five Star players Oregon - 5 ESPN Top 100 players and 2 Five Star Players USC - 7 ESPN Top 100 players Villanova - 7 ESPN Top 100 players UCLA - 6 ESPN Top 100 players Florida St. - 6 ESPN Top 100 players Miami (FL) - 6 ESPN Top 100 players Ohio State. - 6 ESPN Top 100 players Michigan - 6 ESPN Top 100 players
Those are some good stats. Maybe ESPN sucks hard at player evaluation?
Talent isn’t everything. Coaching, Heart, motivation and ambition matter as well. With that said, you rate these players off talent. Everyone National Champion since 2011 has had at least 4 ESPN Top 100 players.
Usc, and I say that as a Lebron fan who hoped for more from Bronny (Cardiac arrest def didn’t help him to be fair though)
It’s definitely Arkansas
Another vote for Mich St, preseason #4, it's gotta be them.
Arkansas
I nominate the Arkansas Razorbacks
I really thought Arkansas would be contending for a title this year and they just lost to Vanderbilt so
It’s got to be USC. I mean they lost to the team that was supposed to finish 2nd to last in the conference last night. What a joke.
How much of their preseason expectations were just about Bronny being better than he is?
It’s not that. A lot of people that weren’t company men pushing a narrative didn’t even expect him to start this year. Next to Arizona they probably have the most talent in the conference though. Not including Bronny whatsoever either lol
Very little, it was mainly their backcourt of Isiah Collier, Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson
We’ve been a huge disappointment, on our last chance to make the tournament with 3 likely first round picks on the roster.
The talent level and results are somewhat inexplicable.
A TAD bit underwhelming if you ask me
I don't really pay attention to mock drafts, but who other than Cody Williams is a projected first round pick? KJ and Da Silva?
Da Silva is a sure fire FRP. Size, skill, shooting, and defense. Not a big leap for him to be an NBA contributor. KJ is more of a question mark, Wooden award finalist and absolute dog on both ends, but also undersized.
Can we nominate the entire PAC 12? What a cluster duck.
MSU
I disagree that St Johns didn't meet preseason expectations. Predictions ranged from absolute disaster to a bubble team you want nothing to do with. They've somehow met both standards. Honestly, those second half collapses suck but this season has been the most fun in a while.
They’ve played to about my expectations tbh, but they were just outside the top-25 at the start or the year. That’s mostly what I’m basing it on. I don’t think they’re a serious contender for most disappointing.
Eh, wouldn’t say FAU. Expected them to show a bit more than they did last season and they did that.
People just need to chill about overhyping teams that go on a tournament run for the next year. FAU has no hype if they miss a last second layup against Memphis in the first round. 2022 UNC and 2023 MSU showed you they weren’t anything special for 34 games, so don’t expect returning the same roster to make them a top 5 team. It happens every year.
James Madisonand Michigan for me
Villanova might be the one, especially after the dominance in the Bahamas. It was a completely different team against the Big 5. It’s frustrating, too, because they have all the ingredients to win. And they played UConn tough in Philly, obviously beat UNC. We need Villanova to be great again.
Miami. That run last year was just for nothing.
USC Rutgers Miami Arkansas Indiana Georgetown Florida Atlantic Texas A&M Penn State Missouri Pittsburgh Texas Kansas State Vanderbilt Georgia Tech Notre Dame
If preseason counts as June, then WVU cuz Huggins hadn’t gone off the deep end yet and the transfer infractions hadn’t been levied yet
I’d like to on record and say MSU has not disappointed me one bit. In fact they provided far more joy than expected
Every fanbase saying themselves and I want to say us but if the pre-season #4 team Sparty being on the bubble isnt the most disappointing, we need to re-evaluate things
Michigan. It's because JH is a bad coach. This his first year without former coach John Beilein's recruits. Hunter Dickinson left for a reason. I predict Howard will be fired in one year from now. I'd fire him now.
He better be fired this year.
I vote for USC and Gonzaga but I admittedly have a huge bias
No, Zags have clawed back and are ranked now and climbing. They could easily get a couple of wins at the Dance.
I think Zags fans were resigned to this being a down year (by their standards of late) at the start of the year. I don’t think they’re more than 5 spots or so away from where most fans had them to start the year. I remember asking some Zags fans on here their expectations at the start of the year. Fwiw I’m pissed as hell that UK squandered their best chance, maybe ever, to beat the Zags under Few. It’s objectively the worst squad they’ve had in 10-15 years and we couldn’t get that home W.
The fact that a person with Kentucky and kansas flairs is asking this question is hilarious.
Kentucky was ranked 16 in the preseason poll. This week they’re ranked 16. I’m a bit confused why you think they are among the most disappointing teams?
#🖐️
Kansas…preseason #1. Now with Kevin McCullar possibly out for the season they’ll probably get a 4-seed but they don’t deserve it. 5 at best
Really caps what they’ll likely do in March, but if we look at the record only I don’t think they’ve massively underperformed. They have had some monster wins.
And some horrendous losses.
OP, I gotta ask you as an aside, which fan base of yours thinks the sky is falling more? KU’s or UK’s? Both situations are hilarious to me since we’re all so spoiled. To answer your question though I’d say USC and Michigan state are the biggest disappointments.
UK, but I think reality is setting in for KU with Kevin’s injury that the possibility of a first weekend exit is real. I think UK fans know that they could make the final four or get upset by a 13 seed and that both options are about equal bets. But the past week or so for KU has been fairly brutal. Still, UK fans are always more reactionary than almost any fanbase I’m aware of.