The Florida Gators (11-0) moved up a spot in the KenPom College Basketball Ratings to No. 7 after a pair of big wins over Arizona State and North Carolina.
A net rating of plus-26.50 is 1.20 points higher than Gators Wire’s last check-in with KenPom on Dec. 8. The jump is expected after securing a pair of Quadrant 1 victories, the first two of the season for Florida.
Many college hoops experts and oddsmakers consider Pomeroy’s ratings to be the gold standard in the sport, and its reputation has lasted for more than 20 years.
“His ratings are derived from a proprietary algorithm, with the core centered on the Pythagorean calculation for expected winning percentage, made famous by baseball statistician Bill James,” ESPN explains.
“Pomeroy’s formula is designed to be purely predictive, with an emphasis on margin of victory. He factors in offensive and defensive efficiency, tempo and even luck, but does not, however, take into consideration injuries or emotional factors.”
SEC KenPom ratings
Auburn (plus-35.36, 1st) leads all SEC programs followed by Tennessee (plus-31.45, 2nd), Florida and Alabama (plus-25.38, 8th) inside the top 10.
Thirteen of the 16 SEC programs are ranked inside the top 50.
Kentucky (plus-23.37 11th), Texas A&M (plus-21.69, 19th) and Mississippi State (plus-20.32, 25th) are inside the top 25, and Ole Miss (plus-19.97, 27th) is just outside that threshold.
Texas (plus-17.31, 37th), Oklahoma (plus-17.30, 38th), Georgia (plus-17.05, 39th), Arkansas (plus-16.94, 41st) and Missouri (plus-15.04, 50th) are the other top-50 teams from the conference.
LSU (plus-14.36, 56th), Vanderbilt (plus-13.24, 63rd) and South Carolina (plus-11.68, 66th) are all close to breaking into the top 50.
Breaking down the KenPom ratings
| Date | Nov. 12 (Week 1) | Nov. 20 (Week 2) | Nov. 26 (Week 3) | Dec. 2 (Week 4) | Dec. 9 (Week 5) | Dec. 18 (Week 6) |
| W-L | 3-0 | 5-0 | 6-0 | 8-0 | 9-0 | 11-0 |
| NetRtg | +19.83 (20) | +20.74 (22) | +21.86 (18) | +25.33 (8) | +25.30 (8) | +26.50 (7) |
| ORtg | 117.2 (13) | 118.1 (11) | 119.5 (8) | 120.2 (9) | 121.9 (5) | 122.8 (7) |
| DRtg | 97.4 (49) | 97.4 (51) | 97.6 (49) | 94.9 (22) | 96.6 (29) | 96.3 (21) |
| AdjT | 73.2 (47) | 71.7 (72) | 70.4 (93) | 69.2 (125) | 69.0 (131) | 70.1 (83) |
| Luck | +.000 (117) | +.000 (182) | +.000 (188) | +.003 (181) | +.002 (187) | +.010 (178) |
| SOS Net | -4.16 (237) | -4.27 (239) | -3.79 (252) | -0.55 (189) | -1.28 (208) | +2.11 (102) |
| SOS ORtg | 100.8 (265) | 100.0 (293) | 101.4 (303) | 103.2 (269) | 102.6 (319) | 105.6 (230) |
| SOS DRtg | 105.0 (198) | 104.3 (167) | 105.2 (164) | 103.8 (62) | 103.9 (87) | 103.5 (45) |
| NCSOS Net | -4.16 (237) | -4.27 (239) | -3.79 (252) | -0.55 (189) | -1.28 (209) | +2.11 (98) |
Since we last checked in with KenPom, Florida’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating has improved by 0.9 points per 100 possessions and the defense is allowing 0.3 fewer points per 100 possessions. Those numbers translate to a one-spot jump in the offensive ratings and an eight-spot ascent on defense.
Florida’s adjusted tempo improved for the first time this season and is now at 70.1 possessions per 40 minutes. After a preseason projection of 73.6 possessions per 40, Florida dipped as low as 69.0 earlier this month. The Gators are back inside the top 100 but still have work to do to crack the top-40 expectation set at the beginning of the season.
Florida has been expected to win most of its games, so its luck rating hasn’t deviated from a baseline triple zeroes at the beginning of the year. At plus-.010, the number is almost insignificant, which is a good thing. High luck can mean a lower rating and negative luck can mean underperforming.
Strength of Schedule according to KenPom
KenPom’s strength of schedule ratings only considers the games played, and Florida hasn’t played the toughest non-conference slate by any means. However, a pair of tough neutral site games against ASU and UNC have led to a jump in the rankings this week. Florida’s schedule is now ranked the 102nd toughest to date among Divison I programs and is the 98th-toughest non-conference schedule.
The rest of the non-conference schedule shouldn’t be much trouble, with North Florida (169th) and Stetson (350th) rounding out the calendar year. Still, the Gators need to be wary of any potential trap games.
Looking back at Florida’s 11 wins: four have come against top-100 programs, North Carolina (28th), Arizona State (58th), Florida State (65th) and Virginia (100th); five have come against opponents rated between 100 and 200, Wake Forest (101st), Wichita State (114th), South Florida (155th), Southern Illinois (162nd) and Jacksonville (175th); and two have come against opponents rated outside of the top 200, Grambling State (275th) and Florida A&M (349th).
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.