Sam's Top 100: High-Majors that didn't make it

By Sam Federman

South Carolina Athletics

Boston College

Why they didn't make it: Earl Grant has finished with a median KenPom rank of 142 in four years at Boston College, and this year's roster isn't any better than what they've been running out.

Why they can make it: Chase Forte is a better guard than anybody that they had last season. Jason Asemota, Aidan Shaw, and Boden Kapke all have some level of high-major experience and could turn into decent pieces. Donald Hand and Fred Payne have to take steps forward.

Cal

Why they didn't make it: The roster is a gamble on a bunch of players that either come from uninspiring mid-majors or didn't work out at their last stop for one reason or another. Mark Madsen hasn't finished in the top 100 in either of his two seasons at Cal, and I don't think losing Wilkinson and Stojakovic will help the cause.

Why they can make it: I actually think this team has some upside. Nolan Dorsey and John Camden were players that I liked in the CAA for different reasons, but Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen is a very questionable backcourt. Ames hasn't shown the chops of being a high-major guard, especially not a point guard, but he's a talented player. Chris Bell had an awful year last year and doesn't play defense, but shoots the crap out of it when he's right. Milos Ilic and Lee Dort is probably a better big man rotation than anybody else on this list.

Penn State

Why they didn't make it: Mike Rhoades couldn't hold this team together last year, and I don't see him elevating this roster. A lot of this roster's upside relies on international players that aren't super highly touted, and potential breakouts from players that I don't feel are that good. Nobody on this roster is a proven scorer, nobody on this roster screams excellent defender. They went 6-14 with a roster orders of magnitude better than this one last year.

Why they can make it: Kayden Mingo should be one of the highest scoring freshmen in the sport simply because of his role. He's played a ton of winning basketball at LuHi and I'm one of his bigger fans. Outside of that, I'm not excited about anything.

Rutgers

Why they didn't make it: Sure, this program "bottomed out" two years ago at exactly 100 in KenPom, but even that team had Cliff Omoruyi and ranked 5th nationally in defense. Donors likely didn't want to push as much funding to the table for a program that went 15-17 with two NBA lottery picks, and this roster screams unfinished.

Why they can make it: If you buy Jamichael Davis, Dylan Grant, and Emmanuel Ogbole as program guys that Steve Pikiell can develop, there is certainly a path. Swiping Harun Zrno was impressive, but it remains to be seen if he's much more than a shooter. Darren Buchanan is one of the better transfer portal adds for anybody on this list.

Arizona State

Why they didn't make it: Total punt year for the ASU program. After years of big time talent coming to Tempe and floundering, this roster doesn't have close to the amount of juice that we're used to a Bobby Hurley group having. Especially considering this is a contract year, it seems almost inevitable that the Sun Devils will hire a new coach next March.

Why they can make it: Marcus Adams Jr. was way too good to be playing as a high end role guy in the Big West, and he should put up some big numbers for ASU. Perhaps auditioning for a coaching job back east, maybe Hurley puts a few tricks up his sleeve and we see some things we haven't seen in years from that program.

Utah

Why they didn't make it: Alex Jensen made a big bet on a bunch of players with clear skillset holes. While the hire felt like copying off of BYU's homework, they didn't have a big time donor base step up and fund a roster that is competitive to that level. Terrence Brown was a tremendous guard in the NEC, but is too skinny to work in the Big 12.

Why they can make it: Don McHenry is experienced and has played for a bunch of winning teams, while Seydou Traore is a good junkyard dog four man. If this team can get high-end production out of either Elijah Moore or Jakhi Howard, there is some hope.

DePaul

Why they didn't make it: It's super hard to evaluate DePaul as a program and the trajectory under Chris Holtmann. The Demons are definitely on the rise, but just how much? I'm okay being conservative until I see it with Holtmann at the moment. They finished 4-16 in a bad Big East last year, only winning against Georgetown, Seton Hall, and Providence, so even though it was remarkable progress compared to the previous year, it was still 122 in KenPom.

Why they can make it: DePaul is the closest team to the Top 100 out of this group. A smashing wing duo of Kaleb Banks and CJ Gunn should be more than capable of holding its own in the Big East, while Layden Blocker continues to grow as a player.

Seton Hall

Why they didn't make it: The Pirates were a million miles away from relevancy last season, and this year's roster feels too similar. Budd Clark will play the high-usage, poor shooter role, albeit in a different way to Isaiah Coleman. The late addition of Najai Hines tells me that the program isn't confident in a Godswill Erheriene breakout. Elijah Fisher has been bad in the Big East before.

Why they can make it: There are guys on this roster that can probably put the ball in the basket, compared to last year. Clark, Staton-McCray, Simpkins, and Fisher probably combine for a better offense than the 315th ranked unit from last year, but there still isn't enough shooting surrounding the offensive hub.

South Carolina

Why they didn't make it: Every time I looked up, I felt that South Carolina was adding a new player that I didn't like. Make it two fanbases that have given up on Christ Essandoko, and three for Mike Sharavjamts, who somehow keeps failing upwards. Meechie Johnson is the only player on this team remotely capable of scoring, and I've never been a fan of his.

Why they can make it: The SEC will inflate the bottom team's rankings if they can keep games even semi-close. SC went 2-16 last year and finished 69th.