We’re less than four weeks away from Selection Sunday, and some teams considered locks in the preseason for March Madness will let their dancing shoes gather dust.
While teams like Miami (Ohio), Saint Louis, Clemson and Virginia have been surprises, plenty of men’s basketball teams have gone splat this season.
Here’s a look at 10 schools who have disappointed this year, including one already looking for a new coach and a few bluebloods who have fans nervous.
Oregon
Ranked just outside the preseason coaches poll (received second-most votes outside top 25), the Ducks have been a disaster this season. Losing All-Big Ten guard Jackson Shelstad to a season-ending injury didn’t help, but Oregon was already just 6-6 when he went down.
The Ducks (9-16, 2-12) finally snapped a 10-game losing streak on Feb. 14 by beating last-place Penn State.
‘The guys were feeling it,’ coach Dana Altman said. “It’s been a long six weeks, that’s for sure, for them, as much or more than our staff.”
Altman had won at least 20 games in each of his previous 15 seasons in Eugene, but the Ducks are on pace to their worst season since going 8-23 in Ernie Kent’s second-to-last campaign in 2008-09.
Baylor
We’re sure there aren’t too many people shedding a tear for the Bears. Baylor opened the season 10-2, then added a former NBA draft pick to its roster, causing plenty of consternation across the country.
Since the addition of 2023 draft pick James Nnaji, Baylor is 3-9 and sinking to the bottom of the Big 12 standings.
The Bears received 13 votes in preseason top 25, but at 13-12 they are flirting with their first losing season since 2006-07.
Baylor has won at least one game in each of the past six NCAA tournaments. This March, they will be lucky to play in the NIT or Crown.
By the way, Nnaji is averaging 1.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
Creighton
The Bluejays were ranked No. 23 in the USA TODAY Coaches preseason poll and picked to finish third in the Big East. That ain’t gonna happen. Unless Creighton (13-13, 7-8) wins the Big East tournament it’s likely going to miss the NCAA tournament for the first time in six seasons.
Creighton is risking its first losing season since going 14-19 in 2014-15 (its second season in Big East). The Bluejays have lost five of their past six games and get No. 5 UConn and No. 17 St. John’s next.
Kansas State
Kansas State was picked to finish ninth pick in Big 12 and received a vote in preseason top 25. So expectations weren’t exactly soaring coming into the season, but anything but this.
Fans are wearing brown paper bags over their heads at games, and coach Jerome Tang says he would too. After a third straight home loss of at least 24 points on Feb. 11, Tang unloaded on his team, saying ‘they don’t deserve to be here.’
‘These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform, and there will be very few of them in it next year. I’m embarrassed for the university, I’m embarrassed for our fans, and our student section. It’s just ridiculous.’
The Wildcats (10-15, 1-11) are headed to back-to-back losing seasons, and the school bit the bullet on the $18.6 million for Tang’s buyout and fired him on Sunday, Feb. 15.
UCLA
Ranked No. 12 in the preseason coaches poll, UCLA was a darkhorse Final Four team with transfer addition of Donovan Dent, a 20-point scorer from New Mexico. However, dent is pretty much what the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year has done to the rim, shooting a paltry 18.6% from behind the arc.
The Bruins’ record looks good (17-8, 9-5 in the Big Ten) but really only has one notable win (a 69-67 win over Purdue on Jan. 21). All of UCLA’s other conference wins have come against the Big Ten’s bottom half, and the Bruins are 2-6 in Quad 1 games.
The most interesting part of UCLA’s season has been Mick Cronin’s postgame rants as it seems the veteran coach doesn’t really like his team. A 30-point loss to Michigan last time out didn’t help.
Kentucky
The Wildcats began the season ninth in the coaches poll and are now out of the top 25 rankings.
A 5-7 record vs. Quad 1 teams will do that.
Mark Pope was under considerable heat early in the season with some massive nonconference beatdowns: a 28-point loss to in-state rival Louisville, a 17-point loss to Michigan State and a 35-point loss to Gonzaga.
Things have improved since then, but as Florida coach Todd Golden chided after the Gators’ win over the Wildcats on Feb. 14, a $22 million roster should yield greater results.
Kentucky (17-8, 8-4) have a favorable final stretch, with its two games left against ranked teams at Rupp Arena. But lose those, and Big Blue Nation waits for no man. Not even an alum.
Notre Dame
The seat is warming under Micah Shrewsberry with the Irish headed to a third straight losing season with him on the bench.
Picked to finish eighth in the ACC poll, the Fighting Irish (12-14, 3-10) were expected to contend for an NCAA tournament berth.
Instead, Notre Dame is 15th in the 18-team league with just two wins since the calendar flipped to 2026 and are a combined 3-12 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games.
Notre Dame’s only moment of relevancy this season was when Shrewsberry nearly assaulted a referee after a Jan. 2 loss to Cal.
Mike Brey built a underappreciated, consistent program in South Bend with 12 NCAA tournament appearances in his 23 years. If the Irish finish this season with a losing record, it would mark the first time Notre Dame has had four straight losing seasons in more than 100 years (six straight losing years from 1917-23).
Providence
Kim English’s Providence tenure may be on borrowed time. Picked to finish fourth in Big East, the Friars (11-15, 4-11) are rooted at the bottom of the conference standings with Marquette. Providence had to replace five of its top six scorers from last season, including Brycen Hopkins who transferred to St. John’s. If you’re looking for a bright spot, four of Providence’s losses came in overtime, but that’s grasping at straws.
The low point came int he Feb. 14 loss to St. John’s with a dirty play by Duncan Powell on a hard foul on Hopkins that resulted in a fight and six ejections. Even worse, Powell’s haircut. IYKYK.
Marquette
How about some more Big East futility?
Marquette has made the NCAA tournament in each of Shaka Smart’s four seasons in Milwaukee. Not this year.
You knew it was going to be a rough year when a retooled Indiana team beat Marquette by 23 points in the third game of the season. The Golden Eagles (9-17, 4-11) followed that up with nonconference losses to fellow strugglers Maryland (10-14) and Oklahoma (13-12).
Marquette, which was picked to finish fifth in the Big East, sits in last place of the league standings, is 0-9 vs. Quad 1 teams and flirting with the most losses in program history (21 losses in 1963-64 — the season before Al McGuire arrived).
Ole Miss
Fresh off a Sweet 16 appearance last season, Ole Miss was expected to be a bubble team — at worst — this year.
The Rebels (11-14, 3-9) are in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, the latest a double-digit home loss to in-state rival Mississippi State.
Ole Miss is 1-10 vs. Quad 1 teams and is dealing with a major regression in Chris Beard’s third season.
Others under consideration: Alabama, Boise State, Princeton, Tennessee
