Top Ten Worst Men's College Basketball Teams of the 2023-24 Season
While Mississippi Valley State is not the wealthiest or most successful program in the country, not by a long shot, they sank to a new level of disappointment this past season. They started off their season by losing their first 27 straight games, finishing the season with a meager record of 1-30. Over the course of the season, they were out scored by a whopping 700 points, more than 200 points away from the next closest team. They were also the worst offensive team in the country, averaging a horrendous 55 points per game, also far away from the next closest team. In short, it was a disastrous year for Mississippi Valley State, and one has to wonder if they'll go the way of Savannah State, and move to division 2 in the near future.
Detroit Mercy is another team that started off this season with a ridiculous losing streak. Starting the season at 0-26 before finally picking up a win, they ended up finishing the season at a depressing 1-31. They ended the season with a scoring margin of negative 400 points. Only a year after Antoine Davis nearly broke the NCAA scoring record set by Pete Maravich, Detroit Mercy has fallen into a humongous pitfall, becoming one of the worst college basketball teams this year, only "bested" by Mississippi Valley State.
Yet another horrible season for VMI, the Keydets finished with a measly 4-28 record. However, 3 of these wins came against opponents that were not in Division 1, meaning they really only secured 1 win against a bona fide D1 opponent. Despite being a "fairly okay" team offensively, they were easily the worst defensive team in the country, boasting an opponents PPG of 83.
After finishing what may have been one of the worst college basketball seasons in history in 2021, with multiple games canceled due to not having enough players, IUPUI earned a respectable 6 wins this season, a fair improvement given where the program was a few years ago. However, of these 6 wins, only 4 were against Division 1 opponents, and they lost their last 12 games of the season to finish with a record of 6-26. In these games, they were outscored by 400 points.
IUPUI has been struggling with funding for years, and it definitely has shown on the basketball court.
Pacific did not start off the season badly. In fact, they began at 4-3, albeit against mostly subpar teams. However, throughout the rest of the season, they won only 2 more games, both against Division 2 teams, losing 23 straight games against Division 1 opponents. This mess of a season culminated in one of the worst basketball performances I've ever witnessed, going down 56-9 against Pepperdine in the WCC tournament.
This season, they were outscored by opponents by an average of 15 points per game and accumulated a scoring margin of negative 500 over the course of the season. Ouch.
Coppin State, another one of college basketball's worst teams in recent years, had another dreadful season this year. Finishing the season with a record of 2-27, with wins against other somewhat mediocre opponents, Coppin State endured 3 losing streaks of more than 7 games and finished as the 2nd worst ranked offense in the country, averaging only 59 points per game. They were outscored by an average of 14 points per game.
Over the course of the season, they were outscored by over 400 points by opponents. On the whole, another disappointing season for Coppin State.
DePaul finished off yet another disappointing season in a Big East conference where they have become somewhat of a punching bag. They finished the season with an embarrassing 3-29 record, with a winless conference record and their only wins coming against teams that can be described as bottom of the barrel. Some of their team stats include being out scored by 600 points over the course of the season, averaging losses by 17 points per game, while being ranked as one of the worst defenses in college basketball, allowing 84 points per game. It is sad to see this happen to DePaul, and something that is now in question is their ability to compete in the Big East long term…
Siena, after finishing the season with a winning record last season, fell off the face of the Earth this year. They finished at a brutal 4-28, the worst record in program history by a fair margin. Only averaging 60 points per game to opponents' 74, they were outscored this season by a total of 500 points, led by one of the worst offenses in the entirety of college basketball. This type of season is not normal for Siena, however, and they should bounce back in the next couple of seasons.
Starting off the season at a pretty bad 4-8, things would go down even further for Cal Poly. They would go on to lose their next 20 games, finishing with a horrific 4-28 record, including an 0-20 conference record, one of the few teams to accomplish this feat this season. They were bad in almost every sense of the term, with near bottom rankings in both offensive and defensive efficiency, scoring margin, and overall record. This continues their streak of bad seasons, and it doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon.
They have the 7th lowest NET ranking.
Buffalo, only a few years removed from knocking off Arizona in the first round of the NCAA tournament, finished this season at a program worst 4-27 final record. In the games that they played, they lost by an average of 12 points per game, allowing just under 80 points per game, a stat that ranks them near the bottom in terms of defensive performance. Hopefully, in the next couple of seasons, Buffalo can turn this run of bad form around and make it back to the NCAA tournament.
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 27 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisional Collegiate Water Polo Association.
The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent the West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Mountaineers have been part of the Big 12 conference since 2012.They have the 8th lowest NET ranking.
They have the 9th lowest NET ranking.