Preseason Kenpom Rankings
With the basketball season starting tonight, let's take a look at how Kenpom has things stacked up.
1. Gonzaga
2. Michigan
3. Kansas
4. Illinois
5. Purdue
8. OSU
18. Maryland
22. MSU
23. Iowa
November 9th, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
Iowa ranked entirely on the basis of "used to have Luka Garza" ?
November 9th, 2021 at 11:50 AM ^
I know!!! Robbie Hummel isnt walking in that door... OH WAIT, HE IS! They found an extra year of eligibility! Year 14!
November 9th, 2021 at 12:14 PM ^
Hummel was Purdue. You might be thinking of Jarrod Uthoff? Jeff Horner? Jess Settles? Chris Kingsbury?
November 9th, 2021 at 12:59 PM ^
Ever heard of the transfer portal?!
November 9th, 2021 at 5:24 PM ^
Is Bohannon still eligible?
November 9th, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
Maybe replacing Garza means subtracting 10 points from their points scored per game, but about 9 points from their points allowed per game
November 9th, 2021 at 10:28 AM ^
Tied for first in Luck, nice.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:42 AM ^
So the only two games his formula predicts us to lose are Jan 14 at Illinois 74-73 and Feb 5 at Purdue 73-72. Here's where I predict the same record as Kenpom, 24-6 and 15-5 in the conference.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
24-6 15-5 seems about right. Hoped that gives us the regular season crown outright
November 9th, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
I really hope we stomp Illinois.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
I hope we don't have to suffer from any cock burn either.
November 9th, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Beggars can’t be choosers, but I don’t want much of that under wood either
November 9th, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
I'd be very happy not to lose to Illinois. That fanbase has some unearned fucking bravado and their imaginary rivalry with us is sad and exhausting.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
So..... Juwan can recruit?
November 9th, 2021 at 11:27 AM ^
I will admit I do not see where this level of Purdue love is coming from. Last year they were 25th in KenPom and while Williams and Edey are good players they're both interior players with no flexibility to extend the court. Similarly, Ivey is a 26% 3 pt shooter and, again, that should improve somewhat but I doubt he'll suddenly be a 40% shooter so their top 3 usage guys are all negatives from outside.
Painter is a great coach and they'll be feisty but "they return a bunch of guys from an okay team" doesn't always mean you'll get significantly better; just as Wisconsin.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:54 AM ^
Seems like everyone is banking on Ivey making a big leap. Not sure it'll come from outside shooting though, and obviously Trev and Edey are difficult to play together. They do have Stefanovic and Newman for shooting, Stefanovic is definitely Just A Shooter, Newman could take a step forward all-around since he was a freshman last year and a should be a good shooter (30 for 32 from the line last season) but he wasn't efficient at all inside the line and he mainly feasted against their bad opponents.
But if Ivey doesn't make a sophomore leap they're not even close to a top 10 team.
November 9th, 2021 at 12:28 PM ^
Yeah, it feels like they expect an inefficient freshman to make a big leap to very efficient sophomore, which may happen but isn't a given. And if he still can't shoot that's going to be a problem for them just because defenses can handle 1-2 shooters on the floor easily enough.
November 9th, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
Staggering amount of love or respect for B10 with 4 teams in top 10 and 7 ranked.
November 9th, 2021 at 1:41 PM ^
Makes you really wonder, though, why the Big Ten has so many teams ranked throughout the season, and then they haven't won a national title in >20 years.
They've certainly had their chances and have gotten to the Final Four a bunch of times, but its amazing that since MSU won it in 2000, no one has been able to close the deal. MSU has had multiple title game appearances, Michigan's had two, OSU and Illinois I think both had one, maybe Indiana had one in the early 2000's, Wisconsin has had one, and yet all of those title game appearances were losses. Maryland doesn't really count in my opinion since they were still with the ACC when they got their's in '02.
The Big Ten is routinely one of the deepest leagues in basketball. Just amazing that in the last twenty years, no one has even accidentally won it all. I wonder if there is some deeper flaw that goes against Big Ten teams come tournament time, like if they don't play the right type of basketball, don't have the right athletes or enough of them, etc.
November 9th, 2021 at 5:39 PM ^
Some of it is just bad luck.
For instance, remember that in 2000, MSU drew a 5 seed (Florida) in the final. The next time State made it (2009), they faced a loaded 1-seed UNC. Izzo could easy have two titles—or zero—if things had broken differently on the other side of the bracket.
That’s why you can’t read too much into a single-elimination tournament. I mean, 2005 Illinois and 2015 Wisconsin were as good as it gets, and still they both lost. Both had to play 1 seeds in the final, and both lost tough, close games.
November 10th, 2021 at 1:22 AM ^
Thats why I think superbowls are dumb. Single elimination tournament after all that football? Cumong man.
November 9th, 2021 at 1:03 PM ^
Gonzaga's ass will be glued to the top rankings thanks to their craptastic schedule.
November 10th, 2021 at 5:33 AM ^
A Gonzaga Ass must be a thing.
November 9th, 2021 at 1:35 PM ^
Will be curious to see if OSU stays as a top-10 team. I know Liddell is coming back and that's big, but they lost Duane "I'm going to turn into Steph Curry when I play Michigan" Washington to the draft, and I feel like they lost a few other key pieces as well.
Not saying they won't be a good team. Just curious if they'll end up being top-10 good.
November 9th, 2021 at 1:45 PM ^
Hopefully I can watch Kansas open up a can on Sparty tonight.
November 9th, 2021 at 4:16 PM ^
Anything less then 4-0 vs. Ohio and Illinoise will be annoying.
Final 4 is a great expectation to have.
November 9th, 2021 at 4:47 PM ^
I used to like Gonzaga as the underdog story, but now I find them annoying. Play in a real conference, you commie bastards.
November 9th, 2021 at 8:02 PM ^
should be fun!
Really excited to see what the Freshmen bring and how much of a jump they other guys have made.
Hoping that Williams, Johns Jr, Zeb and Jace have improved...
Caught the Wayne State highlights and was suitably impressed with what I saw from Houstan and Diabate...looking forward to seeing them in HD compared to that feed from Wayne State however