Top Ten Most Disappointing Men’s College Basketball Teams of the 2023-24 Season

USC had high hopes entering the season. They had landed 5-star recruit Isaiah Collier, Bronny James, and others, which gave them the 3rd ranked recruiting class in the country. Most news outlets ranked them within the top 25 in the preseason, some even going as far to label them as certain PAC-12 contenders.

However, since then, the bottom has fallen out for the Trojans. To this point in the season, it has been a constant road of pitfalls, poor play, and injuries, with them currently sitting at a meager 10-16 with a 4-11 record in conference play. Isaiah Collier, their only bright spot, was lost to injury in January, seemingly cementing the Trojans' season as a total failure.

After a run to the Sweet 16 and a loss to the future champion, Arkansas appeared to be in a good position to make another run this season. They did, however, lose most of their roster, with many of their key players during the tournament run choosing to make the transition to the NBA. This meant Arkansas would have to rely on transfers and players who had been injured the season prior.

The result has not been pretty thus far, with a record of 12-13 and an abysmal 3-9 in an SEC which is significantly weaker than it was last season. It is a disappointing result for sure, as they were initially picked as 14th in the country in the preseason AP poll.

One of the most consistent teams in college basketball, Gonzaga looked to continue their "top of the league" tradition, being placed by many analysts inside their preseason top ten. Even with several key contributors returning, this season has not gone as well as they had hoped. While only losing 6 games to this point, uncharacteristic losses to Santa Clara and Washington led to Gonzaga dropping out of the top 25 for the first time in several years.

While 20-6 is not a bad record for most teams, Gonzaga currently sitting in 3rd in the WCC is enough to show that Gonzaga is not on the same level as they have been in the past few years.

After two consecutive deep runs into the tournament for Miami, resulting in a Final Four and two Elite Eight appearances, it was expected that Larrañaga and Miami would continue to find success in the ACC. Ranked 13th coming into the season by the AP and returning three of the five starters from the Final Four run, Miami has fallen flat this season. They have not even come close to reaching the expectations set for them.

With a 15-11 record overall and a 6-9 record in conference so far, this season is a far cry from the one they had a year ago and a long shot from what people predicted at the beginning of the season.

Was Michigan supposed to be a superpower this season? No. On the other hand, the performance by Michigan this season has been so pitiful that they have fallen to the bottom of the Big Ten standings, below known bad programs such as Penn State and Ohio State. Fielding a record of 8-18 to this point in the season, with a depressing 3-12 conference record, it is sad to see how far Michigan has fallen since the departure of John Beilein and their championship appearances of the 2010s.

In short, Juwan Howard and Michigan's basketball program are in shambles and in desperate need of a change-up.

After a very impressive season last year, capped off with an Elite Eight appearance, things were looking up prior to this season for the Longhorns. They returned most of their key rotation players and were initially ranked 14th heading into the season. To this point, Texas has not come close to reaching expectations.

While the Big 12 conference is stacked, Texas has underperformed against both the top and bottom of the conference, putting up a measly 5-7 conference record. It is certainly a long way to fall from last season, and Rodney Terry may be on the hot seat after this one.

After a very impressive year last season, it was expected that Missouri's second season under Dennis Gates would be similar. The consensus among fans and the media was that they would finish highly in the SEC and make the tournament once again. However, Missouri hit a brick wall this season in SEC conference play.

Through 12 games so far, they are 0-12, even losing to perennial disappointments Vanderbilt. Currently at a record of 8-17, things have gone about as badly for Missouri as possible, making it a season Missouri fans will surely want to forget.

Coming into the season, it was agreed upon almost across the board that this was the best Michigan State team in a long time. Several top-five placements in preseason rankings backed up these claims. They returned a roster of star players who had made the Sweet Sixteen the year prior.

However, after an embarrassing 4-5 start to the season, it was clear things were not as good as they seemed. Although they have picked it up as of late, the Spartans have not even come close to the expectations set for them in the preseason.

Villanova underperformed greatly last season under the leadership of first-year coach Kyle Neptune. Injuries were the main culprit. Therefore, this season, it was widely expected that Villanova would return to form and once again sit near the top of the Big East.

However, this has not been the case. Villanova has continued to be just okay, not bad, but not great either. It is a far cry from their form during Jay Wright's tenure, and it is disappointing to witness a great program like Villanova being just okay.

You may ask, how can you be disappointing if there were never any expectations set in the first place? The answer is: Perform so unbelievably bad that it is actually impressive. This is the case of DePaul basketball. They were picked to finish last in the Big East, yes, but as of right now, they hold a record of 3-22, boasting an 0-14 conference record thus far.

So far this season, they have lost to opponents Northern Illinois, IPFW, and Long Beach State. DePaul's only three wins have come against Chicago State, South Dakota, and the even more depressing Louisville. Very quietly, DePaul is putting together one of the worst P6 seasons in recent memory, and with the way things are going, maybe it would be better if they just discontinued the program.

You know it's bad when they've been a mid-tier, bottom-feeder in the Big Ten. They're basically on par with Rutgers.

To add further insult to injury, their in-state neighbors, Indiana State, have actually had a much better season. They are more relevant in the Top 25 than Indiana has been. This is so sad it's actually hilarious.