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The 8 most underachieving teams of the 2024-25 men's college basketball season so far

nick bromberg
Senior writer
·6-min read

We're hitting the home stretch of the 2024-25 men's college basketball regular season.

Most teams are entering the second half of their conference seasons now that the calendar has flipped to February. And there are some marquee schools that have some work to do to improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament or even simply make the field. Here's a look at eight of the most underachieving teams in college basketball so far.

Carolina’s 87-70 loss to Duke on Saturday was a lot worse than the final score indicated. UNC was outmatched from the jump and it has now lost four of its last five games. Duke was the only ranked team the Tar Heels have faced in that stretch.

Though to be fair, No. 2 Duke is the only ranked team in the ACC. It’s a down year for the conference overall and North Carolina embodies the ACC’s struggles. The Tar Heels are seventh in the conference so far and have lost four games by a single possession. Oh, they're also 1-9 against teams classified as Quad 1 opponents in the NCAA's NET rankings.

The upside for UNC, however, is a relatively soft schedule the rest of the way. Outside of the regular-season finale vs. the Blue Devils, North Carolina’s only other game remaining against a team ahead of it in the ACC standings is a trip to Clemson on Feb. 10.

John Calipari’s first season in Fayetteville got a little brighter on Saturday when the Razorbacks won in his return to Kentucky. Arkansas was 13-of-25 from the 3-point line in the 89-79 win. The win was Arkansas’ second in its last three games after an 0-5 start to SEC play.

The SEC is the toughest conference in the country and could get a record number of teams in the NCAA tournament. Arkansas has the capability to be one of those teams, especially if the Kentucky game was more indicative of the team’s ceiling than a three-point home loss to Oklahoma was just days before.

But there are few easy wins remaining on the Razorbacks’ schedule. Arkansas has five games left against teams in this week’s AP Top 25 and also has trips to Texas and Vanderbilt. Arkansas could need to win a couple games in the SEC tournament to feel really good about its NCAA tournament chances.

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - JANUARY 25: Head Coach John Calipari of the Arkansas Razorbacks directs his team during a game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Bud Walton Arena on January 25, 2025 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Sooners defeated the Razorbacks 65-62. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Arkansas has won two of eight SEC games so far. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

The two-time defending champions are just two games back of St. John’s atop the Big East and are fourth in the conference. But it’s already been a season of frustration for coach Dan Hurley, whose anger towards officiating has been the dominant storyline.

UConn lost all three games it played in the Maui Invitational as the Huskies lost by three points combined to Memphis and Colorado before getting blown out by Dayton. And the Huskies have lost on the road to Villanova and Xavier and at home to Creighton, though the Blue Jays are tied for second in the conference.

This is still a team that can win the Big East and go on a run in the NCAA tournament again. And a Big East title becomes a lot easier to envision with a win on Friday night. St. John’s visits Storrs before UConn plays at Creighton on Feb. 11.

Indiana fans have not been afraid to show their displeasure with the way that Mike Woodson’s team has played this season. Indiana is in a muddled middle of the Big Ten after five losses in its last six games, including a five-point defeat at Purdue on Saturday.

The schedule isn’t very forgiving in the near future, either. The Hoosiers visit No. 21 Wisconsin on Tuesday night before hosting No. 24 Michigan on Saturday and then going to No. 9 Michigan State. It’s not out of the question that the losing streak will stretch to six games before UCLA visits on Feb. 14. And if it does, Indiana’s tournament hopes will be in serious trouble.

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 22: Head coach Mike Woodson of the Indiana Hoosiers reacts against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena on January 22, 2025 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Indiana's tournament hopes are a long shot at the moment. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The Bulldogs’ presence on this list is largely due to the standard of West Coast Conference success it has set for itself. Gonzaga has not lost more than three games in conference play since the 1997-98 season. That was also the last time Gonzaga failed to make the NCAA tournament.

We probably don’t have to worry about the Bulldogs breaking their tournament streak this season even though they’re three games behind Saint Mary’s in first. Gonzaga is still No. 11 in KenPom’s metrics with an offense that ranks fourth in the country. Conversely, Gonzaga’s luck metric ranks 351st out of 364 teams at the top level of college basketball.

The Bearcats opened the season at No. 20 in the AP Top 25 and currently find themselves in 15th in the Big 12.

Cincinnati enters Wednesday’s game at UCF on its second four-game losing streak of the season in conference play. The Bearcats lost by 13 at home to West Virginia on Saturday — a team that also enters the game on a three-game losing streak — and Cincy’s only conference victories so far are over Arizona State and Colorado. The Sun Devils have three Big 12 wins and Colorado is 0-10. At the moment, Cincinnati is No. 53 in the NCAA’s NET rankings and is 0-6 against Quad 1 opponents.

The Scarlet Knights weren’t preseason contenders to win the Big Ten. But it was also possible to envision Rutgers getting a single-digit seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991. After all, this was a team that boasted Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, two potential top-10 picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Instead, Rutgers is barely outscoring its opponents and allowing nearly 75 points per game. Bailey and Harper are the team’s leading scorers and combine for 39 points per game. But no one else on the team averages over 7.2 points per game and Harper is dealing with an ankle sprain.

PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: Ace Bailey #4 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights reacts during the first half of the game against the Michigan Wolverines on February 1, 2025 at Jersey Mikes Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey. Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Ace Bailey and the Scarlet Knights are going to need to go on a run late in the season to make the NCAA tournament. (Rich Graessle/Getty Images)

The Wildcats have had the most recent success of any team in this bunch after a miserable December and January. Kansas State has won three straight and beat then-No. 3 Iowa State 80-61 on the road on Saturday to snap ISU’s 29-game home win streak.

Things were really ugly before the mini win streak, however. KSU had lost nine of its previous 10 games, a stretch that included a double-digit loss to Wichita State and a six-game losing streak in Big 12 play.

We should get a good idea of just how sustainable this run is for Kansas State pretty soon. The Wildcats host No. 16 Kansas on Saturday before No. 20 Arizona visits on Feb. 11.