2021-22 College Sports Madness Top 144 Countdown

[1972Shocker]

Thanks for these posts WuShock Reaper? Much appreciated.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

In my opinion Cincinnati is not better than UCF. I think UCF is underrated.

Agreed. I think UCF should be in the mix for the NCAAT this year.

[TheShocktocles]

In my opinion Cincinnati is not better than UCF. I think UCF is underrated.

[WuShock Reaper]

Cincinnati Bearcats
#93 Cincinnati Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #93
Conference Rank: #5 American

Cincinnati has gone downhill since Mick Cronin’s departure after the 2018-19 season. The Bearcats have missed the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons after Cronin took them dancing the previous nine years. Now, John Brannen is out and Wes Miller is in as head coach. Miller spent the last ten seasons at UNC Greensboro and went to the NCAA Tournament twice, including last season. Cincinnati returns three of their top four scorers while adding six transfers, three of which followed Miller from UNC Greensboro. Expectations aren’t sky high, but the Bearcats hope to begin improvement in Miller’s first year.

Projection:
Top scorer Keith Williams is gone, but Cincinnati returns the next three highest scorers from last season. Jeremiah Davenport is the only double-digit scorer returning after he averaged 11.7 points and 5.0 rebounds last season. David Dejulius and Mika Adams-Woods also return as upperclassmen to give Cincinnati good experience in the backcourt. Mason Madsen and Mike Saunders are the only bench players from last season to return. Both saw extended action as freshmen and should see improvement this season. Viktor Lakhin didn’t see any action last season, but the Russian 6-11 forward averaged 9.8 points and 7.0 rebounds in the 2019 FIBA U18 Championship. Cincinnati’s success this season could ultimately hinge on the play of their six incoming transfers. Three of them played for Wes Miller last year at UNC Greensboro. Hayden Koval, A.J. McGinnis and Jarrett Hensley all have experience with Miller, though none of them played more than 20 minutes per game last season. Abdul Ado spent the last four seasons at Mississippi State and started 130 games there. Last year, Ado earned SEC All-Defense honors, and he’s averaged 1.9 blocks per game in his career. John Newman spent the last three seasons at Clemson and started 40 games in his career there. Newman started all 31 games as a sophomore and averaged 9.5 points, but he struggled as a junior scoring just 3.7 points per game. Lastly, Ody Oguama comes from Wake Forest where he spent two seasons and started 42 games. Oguama averaged 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds as a sophomore. Cincinnati may not quite be ready to get back to the NCAA Tournament, but Wes Miller should have a roster capable of being competitive in the AAC.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

[WuShock Reaper]

UCF Knights
#97 UCF Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #97
Conference Rank: #6 American

CF got a lot of national attention during the 2019 NCAA Tournament when they lost to #1 seed Duke in the second round. In the two seasons that followed, the Knights have had mixed results, finishing 16-14 in 2019-2020 and 11-12 in 2020-2021. With everybody back who averaged over double digits in minutes, Coach Johnny Dawkins’ team should be more consistent.

Projection:
The backcourt trio of Darius Perry, Brandon Mahan and Darin Green Jr. will do most of the scoring for the Knights. Perry led the team with 14.7 points, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals. Mahan was very efficient, making 43.8 percent of his three-point attempts and averaging 12.3 points and 5.0 rebounds on the year. Green was the most prolific three-point shooter in 2020-2021, hitting 53 in 23 contests. Tony Johnson will return after missing nearly all of last season with a knee injury. As a freshman two years ago, he earned a couple starts and tallied 3.8 points and 1.5 assists. Dre Fuller is not a shooter, but he is a great glue guys who can do everything. The frontcourt will again be led by Isaiah Adams and C.J. Walker. Adams earned AAC All-Freshman accolades after averaging 9.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals. Walker is the more traditional big man and led the team in rebounds and blocks. The frontcourt has a little more depth thanks to the addition of Cheikh Mbacke Diong from UNLV. He was a three-year starter with the Rebels and will immediately bring a bigger rebounding and shot blocking presence to UCF.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

[WuShock Reaper]

Tulsa Golden Hurricane
#131 Tulsa Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #131
Conference Rank: #7 American

Tulsa was beginning to look like a potential NCAA Tournament team in 2020 before the season was brought to a halt. However, the Golden Hurricane failed to ever reach that level of play in 2020-21. They were limited to just 23 games due to cancellations which led to the school’s lowest win total since the 2005-06 season. This year, Tulsa loses their top two scorers from last season, but the Golden Hurricane should still be able to compete in the AAC with their returning depth and incoming transfers. Jeriah Horne is back for his second stint after being a key piece for a good Colorado team last season while Sam Griffin joins coming off a double-digit scoring season at UT-Arlington. Frank Haith’s squad should find a way to get back to being competitive this season.

Projection:
Losing top scorers Brandon Rachal and Elijah Joiner won’t be easy, but Tulsa will still return four players who averaged more than five points per game last season. Frank Haith’s teams have typically been defensive minded anyways, so heavy scorers leaving shouldn’t affect them to the extent it would for higher scoring teams. Rey Idowu, Darien Jackson, Keyshawn Embery-Simpson and Curtis Haywood are all upperclassmen who averaged more than 20 minutes per game last season. Their returning experience in Haith’s system will help mask the loss of the top scorers. Also helping in that department will be the addition of a couple transfers. Jeriah Horne is back at Tulsa after spending a season at Colorado. Horne was at Tulsa in 2018-19 and 2019-20 where he played 63 games and averaged 10.6 points and 5.0 rebounds. Sam Griffin is a scoring guard from Texas-Arlington who averaged 13.3 points and 2.2 assists last season. Tim Dalger and Nikita Konstantynovskyi are both junior college transfers who averaged double-digit points at that level last season. The Golden Hurricane also add four freshmen, led by top-200 prospect Teafale Lenard. Again, Tulsa’s lack of returning scoring should not lead to the assumption that they’ll be a worse team this season. The Golden Hurricane will continue playing strong defense and have a strong core of experienced players to help them compete in the American Athletic Conference in 2021-22.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

[WuShock Reaper]

Prairie View A&M Panthers
#135 Prairie View A&M Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #135
Conference Rank: #1 SWAC

Prairie View A&M has now won the SWAC regular season title three years in a row. Last season they finished a perfect 13-0, but lost to Texas Southern in the conference tournament final. Missing out on the NCAA Tournament may not last long though. The Panthers return six players from their eight-player regular rotation and Coach Byron Smith picked up a handful of Division I transfers who will help keep Prairie View A&M towards the top of the SWAC standings.

Projection:
Losing Cam Mack is a big blow for the Panthers. The point guard averaged 11.2 points, 7.7 assists and 2.7 steals. He made things happen on both ends of the floor. However, five very experienced guards are back to help shoulder the burden. Jawaun Daniels is a big 6-7 wing who led the team with 15.2 points per game and added 6.1 rebounds. Daniels does not take a huge amount of three-pointers since he can do plenty of damage using his size to attack the basket, but he is a very consistent outside shooter and connected on an impressive 42.9 percent of his three-point attempts. Jeremiah Gambrell and D’Rell Roberts are the other shooters on the team, although they do lack consistency in that regard. Faite Williams will be the more direct replacement for Mack. Williams averaged 8.8 points and 3.2 assists in a dozen appearances last season. William Douglas and Christian Guess will add even more options on the perimeter. Guess played just ten games for Samford last season, but averaged 15.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in those games. The frontcourt will have to rely on senior Jerroda Briscoe who averaged just 15.3 minutes per game in 2020-2021. The addition of Markedric Bell will provide Coach Smith with a proven SWAC frontcourt player. Bell averaged 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds with the Golden Lions last season and should be ready to step right into the starting five.

Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA

[WuShock Reaper]

Kansas State Wildcats
#136 Kansas State Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #136
Conference Rank: #8 Big 12

Kansas State is coming off their worst season under Bruce Weber after finishing 9-20 last year. The nine wins are their lowest as a program since the 1999-00 season. The Wildcats were likely not quite as bad as their record suggests, but a down year in the always strong Big 12 can lead to a lot of losses. Kansas State did win four of their last six games, including a win over Oklahoma and a competitive six-point loss to eventual national champion Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament. This year, the Wildcats return four starters while also adding three transfers that should help strengthen the roster and lead to a better season.

Projection:
Kansas State returns four starters, including both double-digit scorers from last season. Nijel Pack had a strong freshman campaign averaging 12.7 points, 3.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals. Meanwhile, Mike McGuirl elected to use his extra year of eligibility to return as a fifth-year senior. McGuirl had his best season last year averaging 11.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Davion Bradford and Selton Miguel both started upward of 20 games as freshmen and will be back as sophomores this season. Kansas State also returns a lot of their depth with five bench players coming back for 2021-22. Additions from the transfer market is where the Wildcats may be most likely to make improvements this season though. Mark Smith is a 6-5 guard from Missouri who also elected to return to college for a fifth season. Smith spent the last three seasons at Missouri where he started 60 games, averaged 10.3 points and shot 37.5% from three. Kansas State was one of the worst shooting teams in the nation last year, so Smith’s shooting is a very welcome addition. Markquis Nowell should also help in the scoring department as a transfer from Little Rock. Nowell played in only 15 games last season, but in 2019-20 he earned All-Sun Belt honors behind 17.2 points, 4.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game. The third transfer is Ismael Massoud who spent the last two seasons at Wake Forest. Massoud started only eight games in his Wake Forest career, but averaged north of 15 points and six rebounds each season. All three transfers mixed with four returning starters puts Kansas State in a position to be much more competitive in the Big 12 this season.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

[WuShock Reaper]

Norfolk State Spartans
#140 Norfolk State Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #140
Conference Rank: #1 MEAC


Norfolk State has a few holes to fill from a team that finished 17-8 overall and 8-4 in MEAC play last season. That group reached the NCAA Tournament and defeated Appalachian State in the First Four before running into a Gonzaga team that crushed the Spartans 98-55. Coach Robert Jones will want to ride that momentum into 2021-2022 and it appears that he has been able to add the pieces he needs to compete for a conference title.

Projection:
Ten players averaged at least a dozen minutes per game last season and five of them are back. The senior duo of Joe Bryant Jr. and Jalen Hawkins should lead the way. Bryant ranked second on the team with 11.1 points per game and added 4.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals. Hawkins spent all of last season coming in off the bench and only averaged 17.6 minutes per game, but he proved to be a very prolific scorer during those minutes, averaging 10.1 points per game. Tyrese Jenkins, Daryl Anderson and Chris Ford should again play a role in the rotation. But in order to return to the NCAA Tournament, Norfolk State will need to get production from their five transfers. Kris Bankston comes from Little Rock where the 6-8 senior saw his playing time diminish recently, but back in 2018-2019 he averaged 8.2 points and 4.5 rebounds. The frontcourt also adds Dana Tate. Tate started his collegiate career at Rhode Island where he averaged 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds as a freshman. Tate only played in a handful of games as a sophomore before heading to Siena, where he did not suit up for the Saints. Tate was a pretty big recruit though and he has the physical tools to make a big impact. The last of the Division I transfers is Christian Ings, a 6-2 guard, who averaged 7.7 points and 2.4 assists at Rider last season.

Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA

[WuShock Reaper]

MEN'S BASKETBALL TOP 144 PREVIEWS

https://www.collegesportsmadness.com...p-144-previews

Check in everyday to see where your team ranks in The College Sports Madness Top 144 team previews. We will unveil a new team each day with an in-depth preview until the announcement of #1 on the opening day of the season.

Don't just see where your team is ranked, see who they will match up against in the NCAA Tournament. The Madness also projects where teams will appear in the field of 68. When teams are unveiled they will be added to The Madness Bracketology Page.

#30 Arizona Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#31 Oklahoma State Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#35 Memphis Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#44 Wichita State Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#47 Texas Tech Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#61 SMU Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#81 Missouri Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#93 Cincinnati Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#97 UCF Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#131 Tulsa Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#135 Prairie View A&M Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#136 Kansas State Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#139 South Alabama Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview
#140 Norfolk State Men's Basketball 2021-2022 Preview