Thinking back to the beginning of the season, there are several teams that just have not lived up to the preseason hype. Let’s take a look at some of the worst offenders:

North Carolina State Wolfpack- The Wolfpack is 19-7 and 8-5 in the ACC with wins over Duke, UConn and North Carolina. But the Wolfpack was the preseason favorite to win the ACC and they are not even close. In their defense, they have played a tough schedule with losses to Oklahoma State, Michigan, Miami and Duke. But losses to Maryland, Virginia and Wake Forest have really hurt. The Wolfpack could be in the NIT before it is all over.

North Carolina Tar Heels- The Heels have been coming on lately, but they are not their normal self at all. It all started in Hawaii back around Thanksgiving when they were run off the floor by the Butler Bulldogs. They were blown out by the Indiana Hoosiers, Texas Longhorns (and Texas is awful), Virginia Cavs, Miami Hurricanes twice and the Duke Blue Devils. They are 18-8 and 8-5. They could certainly still play their way out of the Big Dance.

Kentucky Wildcats- Kentucky started the season ranked #3 after hauling in another class full of lottery picks. But one thing this club lacked was veteran leadership like what they had last season with guys like Darius Miller, Doron Lamb and Terrance Jones. They also had no point guard the likes of a John Wall, Brandon Knight or Eric Bledsoe. They have been average at best. Now without what was the lone bright spot in Nerlens Noel, they are firmly on the bubble. heir best wins are over the Maryland Terrapins and Ole Miss Rebels, neither of those excite anyone. Kentucky is 18-8 and 9-4 in the SEC.

Florida State Seminoles- The defending ACC Tournament Champions started off the season in the top 25. They are terrible. FSU has been blown out several times this season and are struggling to stay over .500. They started the season with a loss to South Alabama and another to Mercer. That was a sign of things to come. The Seminoles are 1-12 and 6-7  and will be lucky to make the NIT.

UCLA Bruins- The Bruins were supposed to be back this year after hauling in a class that was almost Kentucky-like with Shabazz Mohammad and Kyle Anderson. It has not worked out that way though. The Bruins have losses to teams lie Cal Poly, San Diego State and a bad USC team. They are 19-7 and 9-4 in the Pac 12 and firmly on the tournament bubble.

Minnesota Golden Gophers- The Gophers got off the a great start and found themselves in the Top 10 early one. But they have played their way onto the NCAA bubble with blowout losses to the Iowa Hawkeyes and Ohio State Buckeyers. The Gophers are 6-8 in the Big Ten and have lost eight of eleven to drop them to 18-9.

 

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