10 Disappointing College Basketball Teams Entering Conference Play

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Disappointing Teams Entering Conference Play

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Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Remember when people were saying the Kentucky Wildcats were supposed to go undefeated this season? Remember when people said Andrew Wiggins was the next best thing since LeBron James? Yeah, so do I. There have been many disappointments in the 2013-14 college basketball season so far, but let’s take a look at 10 disappointing teams entering conference play.

Louisville, Memphis, St. John’s, Indiana and Tennessee have all somewhat disappointed this season. At the very least, none of these teams have met expectations.

The Cardinals are the defending national champs and already have two losses. Memphis has played some very tough competition, but was said to be a top 10 team. That still may be the case, but the Tigers need another big win.

The Red Storm did not have as much hype as the two teams listed above, but they arguably had the most talent in the Big East and already have five losses.

Indiana was one of the best teams in college hoops last season. For whatever reason, many people were thinking that would be the case once again. The Hoosiers lost a bunch of talent. They may be good at some point this season, but they already have five losses.

Tennessee is one of the most talented teams in the SEC, but it has not shown that so far, dropping a few games in its non-conference schedule.

All of these teams have not met expectations, but they could still turn their seasons around.

With that in mind, read on to see 10 even more disappointing teams entering conference play.

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Kansas Jayhawks

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Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Wiggins has been impressive so far, but he is not the most dominant player in the sport. As a result, Kansas has dropped four games. Sure, all four teams are ranked now, but the Jayhawks do not look like a national championship team and Wiggins--once again--does not look like the best player.

A very tough schedule has backfired on Bill Self’s team.

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VCU Rams

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Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

I have no clue what happened to the VCU Rams. This was supposed to be their best team ever. I figured they would be ranked in the top 10 by now, but they aren’t even close to being ranked in the top 25.

VCU entered the season by being ranked as high as No. 14, so you better believe that its 12-3 start has been a disappointment. Not to mention, all three teams VCU has lost to are not ranked.

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Michigan Wolverines

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Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

I am sure Michigan will get better and better, but it is not a top five team without Mitch McGary. Heck, it’s not even a top 25 team right now.

The Wolverines have already lost four games and they still have a very brutal Big Ten schedule to go through.

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North Carolina Tar Heels

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Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Tar Heels have beaten Louisville, Kentucky and Michigan State, but have lost to Belmont, UAB, Texas and Wake Forest. North Carolina is very hard to predict. That is obvious.

Having three huge wins will help dull the pain of those four losses to unranked opponents, but this team has been a disappointment regardless.

North Carolina was ranked near the top 10 entering the season. It no longer has P.J. Hairston. Regardless, at its best it can beat anyone and at its worst, well, it can lose to anyone.

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La Salle Explorers

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John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

La Salle made the NCAA Tournament last year and was supposed to do the same thing in the 2013-14 season. Well, the Explorers have been getting beat by everyone. Almost everyone, because they do have seven wins on the year. Those six losses have put a serious damper on this team’s season, though.

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Kentucky Wildcats

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Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

When a team is predicted to go 40-0, it is bound to disappoint. The Wildcats were't necessarily predicted to finish 40-0, but people were talking about it.

Just like North Carolina, Kentucky had a very tough non-conference schedule. The Wildcats have already lost to Michigan State, Baylor and the Tar Heels. Luckily, they finally beat a ranked opponent in the Louisville Cardinals.

No matter what Kentucky ends up doing on the season, it has dropped from the No. 1 ranking quite a bit.

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Marquette Golden Eagles

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Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

Marquette would probably love to have Vander Blue back on its team. Even with him declaring for the draft, the Golden Eagles were predicted to be the favorites in the Big East.

They are 9-6 and have lost to a number of quality teams, but losses are losses. Hopefully Buzz Williams' team can do work in conference play. If not, it could miss out on the NCAA tournament after making the Elite Eight last season.

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New Mexico Lobos

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Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Part of New Mexico’s disappointment has come from the success of San Diego State. The Aztecs were unranked in the preseason polls, but have climbed all of the way up to the top 15.

New Mexico won the MWC last season. May I remind you that the conference was very good and ended up getting a few teams into the dance. The Lobos were one of them and they earned a No. 3 seed.

After losing three games in their non-conference schedule and the conference being down from last year, I doubt they will be able to earn that high of a seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

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Virginia Cavaliers

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Curtis Wilson-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia has some time to get back into the national spotlight, but it was ranked in the top 25 entering the season and managed to lose four non-conference schedule games.

The loss to Green Bay is probably the only one that will hurt. Regardless, the Cavaliers have the talent to finish in the top three of the conference standings.

However, they aren’t ranked anymore and Joe Harris is nowhere near as good as he was last season.

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Duke Blue Devils

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Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports

The loss to Notre Dame landed Duke on this list. The Fighting Irish are new to the ACC and lost their best player for the season. Still, they managed to upset the Blue Devils in their first ACC game ever.

Duke is going to be in the headlines no matter what, but it is a bit disappointing that it could not beat Kansas or Arizona--both ranked in the top five at time of losses. Still, this team has beaten Michigan and UCLA.

You have to remember that Jabari Parker and co. were ranked in the top five entering the season. Luckily, the Blue Devils will play a bunch of talented teams in the ACC, so they can get back on track in no time.

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