With Selection Sunday less than four weeks away, some teams believe locking in the preseason for March Madness will leave their dancing shoes gathering dust.
While teams like Miami (Ohio), St. Louis, Clemson and Virginia have been surprising, many men’s basketball teams have struggled this season.
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Here are 10 schools that have disappointed this year, including one already looking for a new coach and some blue blood schools that have fans nervous.
Scaffolding: Check out the latest March Madness predictions
oregon
Ranking just outside the preseason coaches poll (receiving the second-most votes outside the top 25), the Ducks have been a disaster this season. Losing Big Ten guard Jackson Shelstad to a season-ending injury didn’t help, but Oregon State was just 6-6 when he went down.
The Ducks (9-16, 2-12) defeated last-place Penn State on Feb. 14, finally snapping a ten-game losing streak.
“Guys felt it,” coach Dana Altman said. “It’s certainly been a long six weeks for them, even longer than our staff.”
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Altman won at least 20 games in each of his first 15 seasons in Eugene, but the Ducks are facing their worst season since going 8-23 in Ernie Kent’s penultimate season in 2008-09.
baylor
We’re sure there aren’t too many tears shed for the Bears. Baylor started the year with a 10-2 record and then shocked the nation by adding a former NBA draft pick to its roster.
Since the addition of 2023 draft pick James Nagy, Baylor has gone 3-9 and fallen to the bottom of the Big 12 standings.
The Bears received 13 votes in the preseason Top 25 but currently sit at 13-12 and are coming off their first loss since the 2006-07 season.
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Baylor has won at least one game in each of its past six NCAA tournaments. This March, they will have the honor of playing in the NIT or Crown.
By the way, Nagy averages 1.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
creighton
The Blue Jays are ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll and third in the Big East. That won’t happen. Unless Creighton (13-13, 7-8) wins the Big East Tournament, it will likely miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six seasons.
Creighton is in danger of losing its first season since going 14-19 in 2014-15, its second season in the Big East. The Blue Jays, who have lost five of their past six games, face No. 5 UConn and No. 17 St. John’s next.
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kansas
Kansas State was selected ninth overall in the Big 12 and earned a vote in the preseason top 25. So expectations weren’t skyrocketing heading into the season, but whatever this.
Fans wore brown paper bags on their heads during games, and coach Jerome Town said he would do the same. On February 11, after losing for the third consecutive time at home by at least 24 points, Don vented his frustration on his team, saying “they don’t deserve to be here.”
“These guys don’t deserve to wear this uniform, and there’s going to be so few of them wearing this uniform next year. I’m embarrassed for the university, I’m embarrassed for our fans and our student section. It’s ridiculous.”
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The Wildcats (10-15, 1-11) were coming off their second consecutive losing season when the school bit the bullet and spent $18.6 million to buy out Don and fire him on Sunday, Feb. 15.
UCLA
UCLA, ranked No. 12 in the preseason coaches poll, is a dark horse team in the Final Four and has transferred 20-point scorer Donovan Dent from New Mexico State. However, the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year was anything but a dent at the rim, shooting a paltry 18.6 percent from beyond the arc.
The Bruins’ record looks good (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten), but really only has one win of note (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, while the Bruins are 2-6 in four games.
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The funniest part of UCLA’s season is Mick Cronin’s postgame rant, as the veteran coach doesn’t really seem to like his team. A 30-point loss to Michigan last time out didn’t help either.
kentucky
The Wildcats started the season ranked ninth in the coaches poll and have fallen out of the top 25.
A 5-7 record against Quad 1 teams will do that.
Mark Pope has been under considerable pressure early in the season, suffering some massive losses in non-conference play: 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 State head coach Todd Golden chided after the Gators’ win over the Wildcats on Feb. 14, a $22 million roster should produce better results.
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Kentucky (17-8, 8-4) came out strong down the stretch and has two games left against ranked teams at Rupp Arena. But without these, the big blue country will not wait for anyone. Not even alum.
Notre Dame de Paris
The seats are warming up under Micah Shrewsberry and the Irish will lose for the third consecutive season with him on the bench.
The Fighting Irish (12-14, 3-10), ranked eighth in the ACC poll, are expected to compete for an NCAA tournament berth.
Instead, Notre Dame ranks 15th in the 18-team conference with just two wins since the calendar flipped to 2026 and a combined 3-12 record in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games.
Notre Dame’s only relatable moment this season was Shrewsbury’s near attack on the referee after a loss to Cal on Jan. 2.
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Mike Brey built an underappreciated, solid program in South Bend that made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances in his 23 years. If the Irish finish the season with a losing record, it would mark the first time in more than a century that Notre Dame has had four consecutive losing seasons (a streak of six consecutive losing seasons dating from 1917-23).
providence
Kim English’s tenure in Providence may have been on borrowed time. The Friars (11-15, 4-11) are fourth in the Big East and tied with Marquette for last place in the conference standings. Providence had to replace five of its top six scorers from last season, including Bryson Hopkins, who transferred to St. John’s University. If you’re looking for a bright spot, all four of Providence’s losses have come in overtime, but that’s about grasping at straws.
The low point came in a loss to St. John’s on Feb. 14, when Duncan Powell’s hard foul on Hopkins led to a dirty play that resulted in a brawl and six ejections. To make matters worse, Powell’s haircut. IYKYK.
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marquette
How about some more Big East futility?
Marquette reached the NCAA tournament in each of Shaka Smart’s four seasons in Milwaukee. Not this year.
When a revamped Indiana team beat Marquette by 23 points in the third game of the season, you knew it was going to be a rough year. The Golden Eagles (9-17, 4-11) then lost in nonconference play to fellow struggles Maryland (10-14) and Oklahoma State (13-12).
Marquette finished fifth in the Big East and currently sits at the bottom of the conference standings with an 0-9 record against Final Four teams and is closing in on its most losses in program history (21 losses in 1963-64 (the season before Al McGwire arrived)).
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Ole Miss
Ole Miss, which just made the Sweet 16 last season, is expected to be — at worst — a bubble team this year.
The Rebels (11-14, 3-9) are in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, most recently a double-digit loss at home to in-state rival Mississippi State.
Ole Miss is 1-10 against Quad 1 teams and facing a major decline in Chris Beard’s third season.
Others under consideration: Alabama, Boise State, Princeton State, Tennessee
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College Basketball’s Most Disappointing Teams in the 2026 Season