Underrated Mid-Majors to Watch This Season
As preseason rankings drop, these five mid-majors are primed to surprise. Learn which teams could outplay their polls in the 2024-25 season.
We’ve covered quite a few teams throughout our offseason reviews, including some that we think could beat the preseason favorites in their conferences, such as Loyola Chicago and Southern Illinois Edwardsville. Many other mid-major content creators, journalists, and fans have been releasing their Top 25 Mid-Major polls and with a few exceptions here and there, you’ll note many of the same teams.
However, what about teams that could out perform expectations? Preseason polls are just speculation for the most part. In this new era of the transfer portal where many teams have multiple new players or entirely new rosters, we truthfully won’t know how they’ll perform until we see them on the court. Let’s take a look at five teams outside of the Power 5 that could out perform their expectations.
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Duquesne
The Atlantic 10 is looking like one of the premier mid-major conferences in the country this season. VCU, Dayton, Loyola Chicago, and others are all vying for the top spot in a conference that will certainly receive multiple bids in the next NCAA Tournament. In the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, five different teams received votes for first place, with VCU taking the top spot.
One team that could surprise people based on these preseason ratings is Duquesne. For those of you that have been following Bracket Busters for a while might remember that we wrote a rather in depth article discussing the Dukes upcoming season potential based on the additions in the portal, which you can read below:
There was quite a bit of talent lost, however, Dru Joyce did an excellent job replenishing the roster. Incoming transfers Tre Dinkins, Jahsean Corbett, Alex Williams, Maximus Edwards, Elijah Wilborn, Brandon Hall, and Cam Crawford all bring unique talents and high power skills to the Dukes. Jakub Necas had an impressive offseason and will play an important role in the rotation.
In the preseason poll, the Dukes were picked for 8th place, which in my opinion was a bit of a shock. There’s many talented teams in this conference, so truthfully anything can happen, but the Dukes could be one to surprise people and move into the Top 5 similar to last year how they stunned everyone with their late season heroics.
On paper, this team is talented, full of scoring machines and plenty of defensive prowess as well. There’s some question marks around their three point shooting potential and their frontcourt, however, with some advances during the offseason, the glue could come together for this team. Mark them as one team that has a great chance of outperforming expectations.
IU Indy
Coming out of left field with this one, but I think IU Indy has the potential to start righting the ship this season. In the Horizon League preseason poll, the Jaguars were picked to finish 10th in the conference. This shouldn’t be surprising as the Jaguars haven’t finished with more than 8 wins in a season since 2019 or a .500 record since 2011.
This past offseason, IU Indy nabbed Paul Corsaro from the University of Indianapolis as their new head coach. The school is pouring millions into a new arena and the program. Corsaro used this momentum to pick up some solid talent in the portal, including several players from his former school which was one of the better Division II schools in the country as the University of Indianapolis finished 23-9 on the season and 17-3 in conference.
This is a team that didn’t return a single player from the roster last season. A rare complete rebuild from scratch. Jarvis Walker, Alex Millender, Nathan Dudukovich, and Paul Zilinskas will be leading the rebuild this season. Their non-conference schedule isn’t strong, so this team should be able to win double-digit games this season which is a step in the right direction.
This team won’t finish at the top of the conference, but I genuinely believe that they have the ability to win some games in conference and finally start building some momentum.
Appalachian State
The Sun Belt is once again going to be an incredible conference to watch and should be on the potential two-bid watchlist. Arkansas State is the clear favorites in this league, but others like James Madison and Troy may make some noise here. One team in particular that could shock some people is Appalachian State.
The Mountaineers were picked 6th in the preseason poll for the ultra-competitive Sun Belt. Head Coach Dustin Kerns picked up some solid pieces in the transfer portal and is retaining Myles Tate and CJ Huntley who were both key rotation members last season averaging 9.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, one steal, and 7.5 points, 4.6 rebounds respectfully.
In the portal, then picked up Alonzo Dodd from Texas A&M Commerce, Dior Conners from National JUCO runner-up Triton College, Jalil Beaubrun from Stephen F Austin, Jackson Threadgill from Charlotte, and Jamil Muttilib from Kilgore College.
Dior Conners was a crucial piece for one of the best JUCO teams in the entire country as they finished 2nd and 34-3 on the season. In the JUCO national championship game, Conners finished with 24 points. On the season he averaged 15 points, four rebounds, and 2.5 assists.
Alonzo Dodd averaged 6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3 assists while shooting 39.3% from the floor and 31.7% from three point. Beaubrun averaged 8 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 52.8% from the floor and 41.7% from beyond the arc. Threadgill averaged 5.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists per game while shooting 37.3% from the floor and 27.7% from 3pt. Muttilib averaged 19.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game on 41.5% shooting and 38.9% from beyond the arc.
Offensively, they aren’t going to have problems, but there is no doubt that there are some question marks on the defensive end. This is a roster full of diamonds in the rough that are transferring up to a team looking to maintain their momentum in the recent years. Look for the Mountaineers to finish better than 6th place.
Loyola Marymount
The landscape of the WCC is going to change in the coming seasons with Gonzaga leaving for the Pac-12 and Saint Mary’s potentially on the move as well. This year, everything is still the same…Gonzaga at the top with Saint Mary’s close behind.
The Loyola Marymount Lions were picked to finish 6th in the WCC this season behind Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Washington State. All five of these schools are impressive. Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are in a league of their own, San Francisco is as deep as it has ever been, Santa Clara is led by potential NBA draft pick Adama Bal, and Washington State has a well rounded team.
This Loyola Marymount team is loaded with talent. They have Will Johsnton and Alex Merkviladze returning who both averaged over ten points a game, while Merkviladze added 7.2 rebounds on average. Stan Johnson also picked up quite a few pieces in the portal, namely: Myron Amey Jr. out of San Jose State, Caleb Stone-Carrawell out of Utah Valley, Jevon Porter out of Pepperdine and Jan Vide out of UCLA.
Jevon Porter averaged 16.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1 block per game, Myron Amey Jr. 15.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and Caleb Stone-Carrawell 11.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists.
They lost a few big pieces including Justice Hill who ran out of eligibility, Dominick Harris who transferred to UCLA and Justin Wright who is headed to UNC Asheville. However, Johnson did a great job replacing these players with equal or even better players. The offensive and defensive skills are there, so keep an eye on this team which could stun some people in the WCC this season. You can learn more about the Lions in our deep dive from earlier this year:
Evansville
For a second season in a row, many didn’t know how to rank the Evansville Purple Aces. The Missouri Valley Conference has been left in disarray with coaching and roster changes across the board. The clear favorites are the Bradley Braves, which should be no shock as they were picked as the preseason favorites as well.
There’s actually many teams in the Missouri Valley that could beat expectations. In particular, I’m high on Illinois State and Murray State, however they were both picked in the top four so I decided to skip them on this list. I think Valparaiso and Southern Illinois could both surprise people as well, but alas we had to pick just one team.
Do I think Evansville will finish in the top four? Probably not, but I think they could surprise people and finish above ninth place. They had a ton of turnover on their roster coming off their successful season last year in year two of a rebuild under David Ragland. Ragland made some notable additions this offseason in Connor Turnbull from Butler, Tayshawn Comer from Eastern Kentucky, Gabriel Pozzato from Europe, and Ramondo Battle from the JUCO ranks, while returning two key pieces in Joshua Hughes and Tanner Cuff.
Gabriel Pozzato has been starting to get looks from many around college basketball. The standout freshman played 38 minutes in a secret scrimmage against Lipscomb and then followed it up with a 22 point performance against DII Tiffin in an exhibition. Obviously, we can’t look into this too much as it’s the preseason, but I’ve been high on Pozzato for a while now and I think he can be a gamechanger for this team looking to continue to build momentum.
Tayshawn Comer is an elite point guard, Turnbull can provide height down low while also being a legitimate offensive threat. Hughes needs to take another step forward this season and improve off what was an excellent non-conference performance, but rough conference performance. Tanner Cuff needs to just repeat what he did last year as he is an ideal glue guy for this team.
If this team gels well, there’s a reasonable chance that they finish 6th or 7th in a conference that has question marks up and down the board. You can read more in our deep dive into the Aces from earlier this year: