Preseason Mid-Major Top 10
- Cappin' Cam
- Nov 3, 2024
- 4 min read
Picking up where I left off last season, I bring to you my top ten mid-major basketball teams heading into the 2024-25 season.
Grand Canyon
The Lopes are coming off their first NCAA tournament win in program history last season, knocking off Saint Mary's. Let's not forget they also gave a run for their money in the second round. I have high hopes for this Grand Canyon team with the return of a true superstar and NBA talent wing player in Tyson Grant- Foster. They also picked up some P5 transfers like JaKobe Coles from TCU and Dennis Evans from Louisville.
Key games: @ Georgia 12/14, @ Louisiana Tech 12/16, vs. St Louis 12/22
Tyson Grant-Foster will look to lead GCU to another WAC title this season
Boise State
Boise State has quietly earned 3 straight trips to the Big Dance and are expected to return this season. The favorites to win the Mountain West return some big time production in Tyson Degenhart and O'Mar Stanley. Leon Rice also adds a Preseason All-MW player to the mix in PG Alvaro Cardenas from San Jose State.
Key Games: vs. Clemson 11/17, vs. St. Mary's 12/14, @ New Mexico 01/17
McNeese State
The Cowboys won 30 games a year ago and are more talented on paper than a year ago. Will Wade will a coaching candidate for a P5 school after this season. They add Sincere Parker from St Louis who averaged 16 ppg in just under 21 minutes per game last year, Quadir Copeland from Syracuse who is a playmaking guard and Brandon Murray who started with Wade at LSU. This team is dangerous.
Key Games: @ Alabama 11/11, vs. North Texas 11/18, vs. Santa Clara 12/3
Princeton
This Princeton team has a legitimate chance to run the table in the Ivy League this season. A team that we saw advance to the Sweet 16 back in 2023, has two remaining players from that team (Xaivian Lee and Caden Pierce) the two best player in the conference and possibly the best returning duo in all of college hoops.
Key Games: vs. Loyola Chicago 11/15, @ Rutgers 12/21
VCU
The Rams are the favorite to win the A-10 both with bookmakers (+350) and in the preseason coaches poll. This is an experienced roster led by their premier perimeter scorer, Max Shulga. This was a top 40 defense last season and they got bigger, more experienced and developed as they will try to win by pressuring the ball.
Key Games: vs. Seton Hall 11/21, @ New Mexico 12/18, @ St Louis 1/28
Max Shulga (43% from 3 in 2023) looks to lead the Rams to an A-10 title Saint Mary's
Radny Bennett has another underrated and overlooked basketball team heading into this season. They return the WCC player of the year in Augustas Marciulionis. Mitchell Saxen also returns as the WCC defensive player of the year. The Gaels will dominate the conference again and will give Gonzaga a good fight.
Key games: @ Boise State 12/14, Vs. Utah State 12/22
New Mexico
The Lobos lost a lot of talent this offseason and the most crushing blow was the lost of breakout freshman J.T. Toppin (Texas Tech). However, Donovan Dent is going to get an opportunity to run the show here and he will be one of the best guards in the country. Nelly Junior Joseph and Mustapha Amzil both come back after strong seasons. The Lobos will also hope for a big step forward from sophomore guard Tru Washington.
Key games: @ UCLA 11/8 (neutral), @ St. Johns 11/17, vs. VCU 12/18
Donovan Dent will the be the main focus in Albuquerque this season San Diego State
Listen, maybe I'm sleeping on the Aztecs and they deserve a higher ranking to start the season. Don't be surprised if they end up being the number 1 team on this list at the end of the year. Are they as good as the national runner-up team from two years ago? Certainly not. But Brian Dutcher will have a team that is competitive as he always does. They will look to a lot of transfers to fill the gaps on talent lost. They added several big time talents from lower-tier conferences that will look to make an impact in the Mountain West.
Key games: @ Creighton 11/26 (neutral), @ Texas A&M (neutral), vs. Boise State 02/15
Saint Louis
Josh Schertz comes over to coach the Billikens from Indiana State where the Sycamores had a breakout season last year. They expect to compete immediately in the A-10 because of the tranfer portal talent Scherts brought in. Robbie Avila come along from Indiana State along with Isaiah Swope, Kobe Johnson (WVU), AJ Casey (Miami, Josiah Dotzler (Creighton) round out the group that will try to end the six year tourney drought for Saint Louis.
Key games: @ Wichita State 11/22, @ GCU 12/22
High Point
The Panthers were the best team in the Big South last season but got clipped by Longwood in the conference title game and thus, did not make the NCAA Tournament. I expect High Point to get their revenge this season. They lost their top scorer from a year ago but they return their second and third best scorers. They also went to the portal and adde some talent including four seniors.
Key games: vs. UAB 11/15, @ UNCG 12/3, vs. North Texas 12/6
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