Wisconsin basketball was ranked No. 46 in the first installation of the 2024-25 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings on Sunday.
The first version lists Houston as the No. 1 team in the country, Duke at No. 2, Auburn at No. 3, Alabama at No. 4 and Connecticut at No. 5. Purdue was the sole Big Ten team to crack KenPom’s top 10 ahead of the 2024-25 season at No. 10.
Wisconsin landed as the No. 11 team in the Big Ten on the hierarchy. Illinois (No. 23), UCLA (No. 26), Oregon (No. 29), Ohio State (No. 31), Iowa (No. 33), Michigan State (No. 35), Michigan (No. 36), Maryland (No. 37), Indiana (No. 39) and Northwestern (No. 50) rounded out conference teams in the top 50.
Unlike other rankings, the KenPom rankings measure college basketball teams based on metrics including offensive efficiency, defensive efficiency, net rating, tempo and strength of schedule. For context, Monday’s AP Top 25 poll listed Kansas as the No. 1 team in the nation, a difference of five spots when compared to KenPom’s No. 6 ranking for the Jayhawks.
The Preseason KenPom Top 100 👇 pic.twitter.com/TFgqGWec50
— Andrew Weatherman (@andreweatherman) October 14, 2024
Wisconsin is no stranger to receiving subpar positions in preseason rankings. UW earned the No. 12 spot in the Big Ten’s preseason hierarchy a few weeks ago before being placed well outside the AP Top 25 on Monday.
The placement adds up. Wisconsin will enter the 2024-25 season without veteran point guard Chucky Hepburn (transfer), athletic wing A.J. Storr (transfer) and mainstay forward Tyler Wahl (graduation). The team’s top options include Max Klesmit, John Blackwell and Steven Crowl, a far cry from the glory days with Frank Kaminsky, Nigel Hayes and Sam Dekker.
Still, Wisconsin finished last season at 22-14 and earned a No. 5 seed in the 2024 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament. The crew also welcomed transfers John Tonje, Xavier Amos and Camren Hunter to the fold this offseason.
The Badgers will begin their 2024 season against Holy Cross on Nov. 4 at the Kohl Center.