All of the mid-majors you need to know going into the season

Yes, the Bruins lost head coach Rick Byrd to retirement and star Dylan Windler to the NBA, but both left Belmont as a program that can continue to be successful. New head coach Casey Alexander guided Lipscomb to the 2018 NCAA Tournament and the NIT championship game last year. Big man Nick Muszynski is back and is surrounded by point guard Grayson Murphy and Boston University transfer Tyler Scanlon — both will need to step up their games to get Belmont back to the tournament. 

The last time we saw the Bradley Braves, they were giving Michigan State all it could handle in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Braves won 15 of their last 20 games last year and return point guard Darrell Brown, who dropped four three-pointers on the Spartans in that tournament game. Big man Elijah Childs (who scored 19 on Michigan State) is also back and should be one of the Missouri Valley Conference's top frontcourt players. Nate Kennell is also a long-range threat who helps open up space for Childs and the Braves' other big men. 

This team returns most of its key players from a team that took Tennessee down to the wire in the NCAA Tournament last year. Rapolas Ivanauskas and Jordan Burns are likely the two best players in the Patriot League. Ivanauskas is a big man who can shoot from behind the arc and won the league's Player of the Year honor last season. Point guard Burns led the Raiders in scoring and dumped 32 points on the Volunteers in that first-round game (and also scored 35 in the Patriot League tournament title game). Will Rayman and Tucker Richardson are also back. Colgate should be overwhelming favorites to get back to the tournament and scare another power team. 

The Cougars will follow Grant Riller's lead. Riller is the conference's leading returning scorer (21.9 ppg) and was near the top of the CAA in assists. The ball will be in his hands a lot, and he'll need to lean on his capable teammates. Brevin Galloway is the three-point threat and freshman Dontavius King will need to be a factor inside. Their staples are being tough with their defense and smart with their offense. 

Stop me if you've heard this before: Davidson's success will be carried by its wealth of deep shooters. Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson are a lethal pair of snipers who can create their own looks as well as work off the ball. As defenses run around to stick to those two, Luke Frampton sneaks open and knocks down his threes. The Wildcats are lacking inside and aren't that great defensively, so look for them to just try to outgun everyone all year. 

Move over, Wofford! East Tennessee State is ready to take over the reins of the Southern Conference. While Wofford loses all-everything Fletcher Magee, ETSU brings back pretty much everyone from a 24-win team. Tray Boyd led the team in scoring as a sixth man. Patrick Good is a three-point sniper who can get hot in a hurry, Jeromy Rodriguez averaged a double-double last year and Bo Hodges is that Swiss Army knife who gives you so many little things during the game. If the Bucs can figure out the point guard platoon (Isaiah Tisdale is the lock down defender, while Daivien Williamson is the energy scorer), they might make some real noise come March. 

Georgia Southern plays that frantic style that creates a lot of turnovers and converts them into easy baskets. Isaiah Crawley and Quan Jackson form a potent inside-outside duo who pressure on opposing teams by using tough defense and being big on the boards. Ike Smith, who was the Sun Belt's leading scorer three years ago, is eligible for a fifth season. 

I know, I know, but they are technically a mid-major. The Bulldogs are pretty much a complete rebuild of an Elite Eight team that will rely on a guy who cannot stay healthy. Killian Tillie is the key to the Zags season. He's an NBA talent but missed all but 15 games a year ago. The rest of the roster will be made up of guys who will need to step into a more prominent role (Corey Kispert, Filip Petrusev, Joel Ayayi), incoming freshmen (Drew Timme, Oumar Ballo) and graduate transfers who will need to make an immediate impact (Ryan Woolridge, Admon Gilder). There is a lot of newness to this Bulldogs program that typically has a player or two that can be leaned on to shoulder the load. Gonzaga may need more time than usual to develop but should be a real title contender when March rolls around. 

Is this the year that Harvard finally finishes the deal? Most likely. After winning a share of the regular season the last two years, the Crimson are primed to get back to the NCAA Tournament. This is a deep team — returning its top nine scorers from a squad that beat Georgetown in the NIT last March. Bryce Aiken is the best of them. (He averaged 22.2 points in 2018-2019 despite suffering a knee injury.) He may be the guy who carries the bulk of the offensive load, but he's surrounded by players like forwards Chris Lewis and Danilo Djuricic and guards Christian Juzang and Justin Bassey who fill their roles quite nicely. 

The Flames showed their worth in the Atlantic Sun conference by winning the regular season and tournament titles in their first season in the league. For good measure, they stunned Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to Virginia Tech. Four starters return, including Caleb Homesley who scored 30 points in that NCAA Tournament victory. Liberty should dominate the ASUN this year and get another chance to topple a power conference team in March. 

The Bulldogs have an interesting team. The Bulldogs were decimated by injuries last year but eight of their top 10 players are back for a team that finished just 9-9 in Conference USA but lost too many close games. Derric Jean and Exavian Christon both missed most of last season due to injury and will inject La. Tech with a ton of options offensively. DaQuan Bracey and Amorie Archibald form a productive backcourt that has plenty of depth. They've even added JUCO transfer Xaiver Armstead and McNeese State transfer Kalob Ledoux to add to the mix. 

Auburn's magical run to the Final Four was nearly ended by New Mexico State before it began. The Aggies own the WAC right now, winning the last three conference tournaments and seven of the last eight. New Mexico State has created a program where it isn't reliant on one star or one recruiting class — the Aggies have a system in place where quick guards defend and push their pace on fellow WAC teams as well as whomever they run into in the postseason. This team certainly has that, with Terrell Brown, AJ Harris, Clayton Henry and Trevelin Queen. 

Northern Colorado has a great shot at ending Montana's hold on the Big Sky Conference. Sure, Jordan Davis, the Bears' all-time leading scorer, is gone but a lot remains. Jonah Radebaugh was the league's Defensive Player of the Year, and Bodie Hume was the Freshman of the Year. If they, plus a few of the other holdovers, can disperse the offensive load left by Davis, then UNC (the other one) can pull off a postseason surprise. 

Radford will rely on a great backcourt with Carlik Jones, Donald Hicks and Travis Fields. Those three (as well as a nice bit of depth behind them) will be tasked with stretching out their defense and forcing tempo to create easy looks. If they can find some production from their big guys (transfers Lewis Djonkam and Devine Eke are prime candidates) then the Highlanders can get back to the NCAA Tournament. 

It seems as if we've spent too much time waiting for the "Saint Mary's is finally going to pass Gonzaga" moment to happen. Sure, the Gaels beat the mighty Zags in the West Coast Conference tournament last year, but they didn't exactly pass them. So here we are again with their chance. Gonzaga is really good but is in a bit of a transition. Saint Mary's has Jordan Ford, who averaged 21 ppg last season, and Malik Fitts who was the Gaels' top paint scorer and leading rebounder. This team plays at a certain pace that frustrates opponents yet has offensive heft to go get its shot when it needs it. Will the Gaels pass Gonzaga in the hierarchy of the WCC? Probably not, but they certainly can get to the NCAA Tournament without having to win the conference's automatic bid again and then do some major damage once they get there.

Toledo is a top-heavy team. Point guard Marreon Jackson is the leading returning scorer for Rockets, while big man Luke Knapke should be the best big in the MAC and will have Willie Jackson banging around beside him. From there, Toledo will need production from guys who haven't been in those roles yet. Dylan Anderson, Spencer Littleson and a bevy of freshmen need to provide support. If they can get that support, this could be the best Rockets team since its last NCAA appearance in 1980. 

This is the season that the Gauchos step up and get back to the NCAA Tournament. Amadou Sow is one of those uber-talented mid-major players who can scare opponents...even power conference schools. He leads a roster that brings much of its production back (including JaQuori McLaughlin) and welcomes transfers Brandon Cyrus and Matt Freeman. If senior Max Heidegger can return to his form from his sophomore season, then UCSB can be a problem come tournament time. 

Utah State isn't just some mid-major this year — it is a good team. The Aggies stunned everyone by winning a share of the Mountain West regular-season championship with heavy preseason favorite Nevada and won the MW tournament. Sam Merrill was the league's Player of the Year due to his lights-out shooting and basketball IQ. With the depth the Aggies posses this season, he should have a blast running this offense. Neemias Queta, last year's conference Freshman of the Year as well as Defensive Player of the Year, should fortify the frontcourt next to huge center Kuba Karwowski. This is a program that isn't just happy it made the Big Dance last year (it lost to Washington in the first round) but also is hungry to make a run this time around. 

VCU is coming off a fantastic season that ended rather abruptly in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Rams bring back guard Marcus Evans, who is their on-court and spiritual leader. Evans isn't the best three-point shooter, but he scores in a variety of ways, sets up his teammates and crashes the boards. This is a senior-laden team, with De'Riante Jenkins, Marcus Santos-Silva and Issac Vann back, that is also deep. Jenkins and Vann are scoring wings who can attack the basket and have range on their shots. They have some great freshmen who may not find a ton of minutes this season but should be the foundation for the future. 

Vermont has been the class of the America East for over a decade and should continue to be a force this year. Anthony Lamb, the defending conference Player of the Year, is back despite toying with entering the NBA Draft last spring. Lamb is one of the best mid-major players: He can score in a variety of ways and is tough on the glass. Stef Smith and Everett Duncan also return giving the Catamounts a veteran core to go alongside newcomers Aaron Deloney, Daniel Giddens and Duncan Demuth. 

The Hilltoppers have Charles Bassey who somewhat surprisingly returns for his sophomore season and headlines a potent lineup. Bassey is a defensive force who is tough to replicate in the Conference USA. Joining the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year are guards Taveion Hollingsworth and Josh Anderson as well as wing Jared Savage — all double-digit scorers. Add in long-range gunner graduate transfer Camron Justice, and Western Kentucky looks like a dangerous team come tournament time. 

Wright State should stay in the mix for another Horizon League title and should be able to stave off Northern Kentucky (which lost its coach and best player) to get back to the NCAA Tournament. Bill Wampler, Loudon Love and Cole Gentry form the returning core from the regular-season champs while adding transfers Jordan Ash and Aleksandar Dozic. Love is a tough big man who can fill up the basket and is strong on the boards. If Jaylon Hall and Grant Basile can come in and contribute after missing virtually all of 2018-2019, then the Raiders have the look of a dangerous team.