United States of College Basketball: Where every team ranks in each state, from top to bottom

by Original story by Matt Norlander @ CBS Sports | November 1, 2019

Time to chart the course for the 2019-20 season. Where we're going, we most definitely do need roads. The track to the 2020 Final Four in Atlanta will twist, pivot and turn down many a boulevard, turnpike, avenue, highway and side street.

Here, I present the first plot and plat for the 2019-20 campaign and our beautiful nation, the United States of College Basketball.

2019-20 Preview

Below, a ranking of the best team in all 49 states with a Division I basketball team, and the District of Columbia, with a subset list of all others who fell short in their respective regions.

We do have some flippage from how things looked a year ago, while those schools fortunate enough to be the only Division I program in their state continue to be prominently displayed.

There are were some close battles, no question about that, but ultimately we don't divide the borders. There can only be one representative from each. Here's how the map is shaped for the latest season in college hoops.

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California

1. Saint Mary's

Well, how about it? The deepest state of D-I college basketball programs has tiny Saint Mary's, up in Moraga, beating out big-league schools like UCLA and USC. The Gaels have been coached by Randy Bennett since '01 and have made back-to-back NCAA tourneys only once (2012 and 2013). It should happen again this season. I've heaped praised elsewhere on. com about SMC point Jordan Ford and I'll do it once more. He's probably the closest thing to an And 1 Mixtape point guard college hoops has right now. Stay up late and watch him this season. Below the Gaels, I expect USC to make the NCAA Tournament and UCLA to firmly bust through to the NIT. Trojans definitely have the talent to be one of the 36 best at-large teams. UCLA needs one season to align itself with Mick Cronin's philosophy and then should be in the NCAAs basically every season he's coaching there.

The rest
2. USC
3. UCLA
4. San Diego State
5. San Francisco
6. UC Irvine
7. Stanford
8. Santa Clara
9. Fresno State
10. Pepperdine
11. California
12. Cal Santa Barbara
13. San Diego
14. Cal State Bakersfield
15. Cal Baptist
16. Loyola Marymount
17. Cal State Fullerton
18. Cal State Northridge
19. Pacific
20. UC Davis
21. UC Riverside
22. Long Beach State
23. Sacramento State
24. San Jose State
25. Cal Poly

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