Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Mid-Major fans and fans across the country.
The AP preseason men’s basketball poll was released earlier this week, and while no mid-majors cracked the initial top 25, six of them received votes.
So, for this week’s reacts questions, we’re asking which of the six mid-majors that received votes in the AP preseason poll is most likely to first appear in the rankings? Saint Louis, VCU, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Utah State, or Santa Clara are the contenders here.
Saint Louis
The Billikens spent a large chunk of last season ranked, and there’s reason to believe Josh Schertz’s team will be in the mix to be a top-25 team once again. There’s still uncertainty around whether Robbie Avila will be granted a fifth year, but SLU has several impact players this season.
Trey Green poured in 10.7 points per game last season and shot 44% from beyond the arc. Kellen Thames contributed 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds on 65% shooting a season ago. Both were preseason all-A-10 first team selections. Amari McCottry added 10.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.9 assist.
Saint Louis has notable non-conference games against Missouri, High Point, Saint Mary’s, Grand Canyon, South Florida and DePaul.
VCU
The Rams won the Atlantic-10 tournament championship last season and were picked as the preseason favorites this year. Phil Martelli Jr.’s squad is loaded once again.
Lazar Djokovic tallied 13.2 points and 5.2 rebounds a game while shooting 50% from the floor last season. Reigning A10 Rookie of the Year Nyk Lewis poured in 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds. Brandon Jennings contributed 8.5 points, 3.6 boards and 1.7 steals per game.
VCU visits Memphis and Santa Clara in its first four games before heading to Maui with a date with Providence in the opener and potentially Arizona in round two. Florida Atlantic and Mississippi State are also part of the non-conference.
Nevada
Steve Alford has the Wolf Pack looking at a run for the Mountain West title in his swan-song season. Nevada went to the NIT quarterfinals last season and brings back several players.
Elijah Price notched 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds. Vaughn Weems served as a double-digit scorer last year with 10.1 points and 4.2 rebounds. Peyton White is also back after contributing 4.6 points and 1.7 rebounds as a freshman.
Notable non-conference games for the Wolf Pack include against Saint Mary’s at Lake Tahoe and San Francisco and Santa Clara in the Acrisure Series.
Grand Canyon
The Lopes look to take advantage of the mass exodus from the Mountain West as they enter their second year in the conference. GCU ranks 44th in KenPom and 42nd in BartTorvik.
Dylan Darling comes to Phoenix after a season at St. John’s where he averaged 6.9 points, 2.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals. Jaden Henley was a standout last year with 17.7 points, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Makaih Williams was also in double figures with 14 points and 2.5 assists. Efe Demirel had a solid freshman season for the Lopes with 8.5 points 5.3 boards and 1.1 blocks. Caleb Shaw added 7.8 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Utah State
No matter who the coach is, Utah State is one of the top mid-majors every year. Four straight NCAA Tournament appearances with three different head coaches. In comes Ben Jacobson, and expect the results to be the same.
Mason Falslev returns to Logan after averaging 16 points, 5.7 rebounds and three assists last season. Karson Templin is back with the Aggies too after 8.8 points and 4.2 boards. Will Hornseth came to USU with Jacobson from Northern Iowa after posting 11.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Dallin Hall ranked 19th in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.27) at Virginia and came back to his home state. AJ Bates joined the program after posting 12.1 points, 5.9 assists, 2.8 boards and 1.2 steals at Louisiana Tech.
The Aggies have matchups with UC San Diego, SMU, USC, New Mexico, BYU and Tulsa in the non-conference before their inaugural season in the Pac-12.
Santa Clara
The Broncos reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996 last season, and Herb Sendek’s squad enters this year as the preseason favorite in the WCC.
Jake Ensminger notched 6.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists for a 3.2 assist-to-tunrover ratio. Sash Gavalyugov came on strong at the WCC Tournament with a statline of nine points, 14 boards and 5.7 assists. Thierry Darlan is also back after averaging 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds.
Santa Clara faces New Mexico, VCU, Nevada, GCU, Murray State, McNeese, Boise State and Oregon State in the non-conference.