While continuing the series of the top programs of the 21st century, it is important to remember that conferences and teams have done a lot of changing over the years. At the start of the century the NCAA had a total of 318 Division I Men’s basketball teams. Those 318 teams were spread across 31 conferences and a few were considered Independents with no conference to call home. The Mid-American and Big East Conferences were the only ones to have more than twelve affiliates. Today’s game has been expanded, with 33 more teams achieving the status of a Division I program bringing the total to 351. There are now 32 complete conferences with no independent teams remaining. The life of the power conference has consumed the leagues as seven conferences have at least thirteen teams. These power conferences are bound to have teams ready to compete for the National Title, as well as a loaded field with talent and the opportunities to play high quality programs. This then takes away the opportunities for the smaller conferences to even make the tournament without winning their conference. With the development of the league overall, these ranking are ever changing allowing more teams to earn their place in the NCAA tournament or even giving other programs a chance to win their conferences titles.

Rankings #351-#301

# 300 Oregon State Beavers

Oregon State Beavers Logo


# 299 TCU Horned Frogs

Texas Christian Horned Frogs Logo


# 298 Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska Cornhuskers Logo


# 297 Grambling Tigers

Grambling Tigers Logo


# 296 Arkansas Pine-Bluff Golden Lions

Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions Logo


# 295 Western Illinois Leathernecks

Western Illinois Leathernecks Logo


# 294 North Carolina A&T Aggies

North Carolina A&T Aggies Logo


# 293 Prairie View A&M Panthers

Prairie View Panthers Logo


# 292 Nicholls StateColonels

Nicholls State Colonels Logo


# 291 Northern Illinois Huskies

Northern Illinois Huskies Logo


# 290 Campbell Fighting Camels

Campbell Fighting Camels Logo


# 289 St. Peter’s Peacocks

St. Peter's Peacocks Logo


# 288 Loyola (MD) Greyhounds

Loyola (MD) Greyhounds Logo


# 287 Northwestern Wildcats

Northwestern Wildcats Logo


# 286 Tennessee Martin Skyhawks

UT-Martin Skyhawks Logo


# 285 Cal Poly Mustangs

Cal Poly Mustangs Logo


# 284 Louisiana Monroe Warhawks

Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks Logo


# 283 Eastern Illinois Panthers

Eastern Illinois Panthers Logo


# 282 Jacksonville State Gamecocks

Jacksonville State Gamecocks Logo


# 281 Navy Midshipmen

Navy Midshipmen Logo


# 280 Canisius Golden Griffins

Canisius Golden Griffins Logo


# 279 Texas State Bobcats

Texas State Bobcats Logo


# 278 Tulane Green Wave

Tulane Green Wave Logo


# 277 William & Mary Tribe

William & Mary Tribe Logo


# 276 Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs

Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs Logo


# 275 Bradley Braves

Bradley Braves Logo


# 274 Montana State Bobcats

Montana State Bobcats Logo


# 273 Samford Bulldogs

Samford Bulldogs Logo


# 272 La Salle Explorers

La Salle Explorers Logo


# 271 Furman Paladins

Furman Paladins Logo


# 270 Fort Wayne Mastodons

Fort Wayne Mastodons Logo


# 269 Quinnipiac Bobcats

Quinnipiac Bobcats Logo


# 268 NJIT Highlanders

NJIT Highlanders Logo


# 267 Detroit Titans

Detroit Titans Logo


# 266 Fairfield Stags

Fairfield Stags Logo


# 265 Drexel Dragons

Drexel Dragons Logo


# 264 Alabama A&M Bulldogs

Alabama A&M Bulldogs Logo


# 263 Illinois State Redbirds

Illinois State Redbirds Logo


# 262 Missouri State Bears

Missouri State Bears Logo


# 261 Marshall Thundering Herd

Marshall Thundering Herd Logo


# 260 Virginia Tech Hokies

Virginia Tech Hokies Logo


# 259 South Florida Bulls

South Florida Bulls Logo


# 258 Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State Nittany Lions Logo


# 257 Florida A&M Rattlers

Florida A&M Rattlers Logo


# 256 Binghamton Bearcats

 

Binghamton Bearcats Logo


# 255 Northern Colorado Bears

Northern Colorado Bears Logo


# 254 Washington State Cougars

Washington State Cougars Logo


# 253 Savannah State Tigers

Savannah State Tigers Logo


# 252 Coppin State Eagles

Coppin State Eagles Logo


# 251 Massachusetts Minutemen

UMass Minutemen Logo

By Matt Karner

Big East hoops writer for NCAAM Review Bracketologist for Busted Bracketology (www.bustedbracketology.wordpress.com) Twitter: @karner44 Instagram: @karner44