Kenpom – Syndication Server

Gators hoops continues to climb up KenPom ratings at 11-0

Florida remains unbeaten after six weeks of college basketball action, and the Gators are approaching a top-5 rating according to KenPom.

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).

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Where does Duke basketball sit in the KenPom rankings after the George Mason win?

Check out where the Duke Blue Devils stand on the KenPom efficiency rankings after their Tuesday win over George Mason.

The Duke Blue Devils won their fifth straight game on Tuesday night, a 68-47 victory over the George Mason Patriots, to hold tight to their No. 3 spot in the KenPom rankings.

The Duke defense held George Mason to 29.4% from the field and 11.8% from 3-point range, its second straight game allowing fewer than 50 points. The Blue Devils haven’t allowed more than 78 points in a game this season, and they sit second in the KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency ranking with 88.5 points allowed per 100 possessions.

While the defense thrived, the offensive side of the ball continued to struggle. Duke scored fewer than 30 points before halftime for the second straight game, and the Blue Devils made 37.5% of their shots and 33.3% of their threes. They’re still the 14th-ranked offense in the KenPom database, making them one of five teams in the top 15 on both ends.

Freshman superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] finished with 24 points, 17 of which came after halftime, for his fifth 20-point performance of the season. The 17-year-old forward sits behind only Auburn Tigers forward Johni Broome on the KenPom Player of the Year board.

The North Carolina Tar Heels lost their fifth game of the year on Tuesday, tumbling down to 28th in the rankings. Duke’s next opponent, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, currently sits 111th with a 4-6 record.

Duke basketball phenom Cooper Flagg sits second on KenPom Player of the Year board

Through six weeks of the men’s college basketball season, Cooper Flagg trails one player on the KenPom Player of the Year standings.

Duke basketball superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] is off to a soaring start during what will surely be his only season in Durham, and KenPom certainly sees the Maine native as one of the best players in the nation.

As of Monday morning, Flagg sits behind only Auburn Tigers forward Johni Broome on the analytics site’s Player of the Year standings. Broome has opened up a pretty massive lead in fairness, with a 2.686 kPoY rating to Flagg’s 1.899, but the Blue Devils did pick up a head-to-head victory over the Tigers at the start of the month.

Despite a quiet game against Incarnate Word last Tuesday, Flagg still has four 20-point performances and four double-doubles through his first 10 games. In his five biggest games (Auburn, Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, and the Kentucky Wildcats), Flagg has averaged 21.0 points and 9.2 boards.

He leads the roster with 15.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks, and his 1.5 steals are second on the team.

Broome, for his part, helped the Tigers sweep their first seven games with some monstrous production. He’s put together 19.7 points and 12.7 rebounds per game, including a three-game run against Iowa State, the North Carolina Tar Heels, and Memphis in Maui that saw him put up 21.7 points and 15.0 rebounds.

Wisconsin rises in both KenPom and ESPN BPI after win over Butler

Wisconsin basketball ended its three-game losing streak on Saturday with an 83-74 win over Butler.

The victory improves the Badgers to 9-3 on the 2024-25 season. Importantly, it guarantees momentum entering the holiday break, barring an unforeseen loss to Detroit Mercy (No. 318 in KenPom) on Dec. 22.

The Badgers had tumbled in both KenPom and ESPN BPI during the mentioned losing streak. The team fell from a fringe-top-20 contender down to the mid-30s of both rankings.

The win over Butler righted that trajectory. Wisconsin rose in both rating metrics:

KenPom: No. 33 (up from No. 35), with the No. 15 offense and No. 89 defense in the country.
BPI: No. 34 (up from No. 35), with a projected record of 20.3 – 10.7 and a 5.5% chance to win the Big Ten.

The Badgers are the No. 9 and No. 8-ranked team in the Big Ten in those two rankings, respectively. While a step down from where the team was after its 8-0 start, each slot is a significant upgrade over where it stood entering the season (No. 46 in KenPom, No. 39 in BPI).

That sentence likely captures the tone of the fanbase: the three-game losing streak paused big-picture expectations, especially in a gauntlet Big Ten. But overall, the Badgers look far better than any expected when the season began.

Wisconsin is back on the court on Dec. 22 at home against Detroit Mercy. It is then off until Jan. 3, 2025 when the Big Ten schedule continues with a home matchup against Iowa.

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Duke basketball holds steady in the KenPom rankings after Incarnate Word victory

Despite an underwhelming first half against Incarnate Word on Tuesday, the Blue Devils stayed within the top three of the KenPom rankings.

The Duke Blue Devils struggled to pull away from Incarnate Word on Tuesday night, clinging to a two-point lead with 6:10 left in the first half, but the eventual 72-46 victory didn’t drop them in the advanced metrics.

As of Wednesday morning, [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates remained the third-ranked team in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric.

The offense took some time to wake up in Durham, but the Duke defense looked elite once again. With the Cardinals shooting just 32.1% from the floor and 21.7% from 3-point range, the Blue Devils have now held eight teams under 40% from the field and six teams under 28% from distance through 10 games.

They haven’t allowed more than 78 points in a game this season, and KenPom only credits them with 88.7 adjusted points allowed per 100 possessions to lead the entire country. In fact, the Tennessee Volunteers (89.0) and Houston Cougars (89.9) are the only other teams with a defensive rating below 92.

The Blue Devils did tumble from the offensive top 10, however. The team has made 35 of its 113 3-point efforts over the last four games, an alarming 31.0%, and that number slips to 28.6% if the Auburn Tigers victory is removed from the sample.

KenPom now considers Duke the No. 13 offense in the country, which is still the best of any ACC school.

Gators hoops holds steady at No. 8 in KenPom after ninth win

Florida remains inside the top 10 of the KenPom ratings after beating Virginia to move to 9-0 on the season.

The Florida Gators remain at No. 8 in the KenPom College Basketball Ratings after a 9-0 start to the 2024-25 season. Florida beat Virginia last week, keeping its perfect record intact.

A net rating of plus-25.30 is 0.03 points lower than a week ago, which means the Gators are keeping their performance consistent against non-conference opponents.

Many college hoops experts and oddsmakers consider Pomeroy’s ratings the gold standard in the sport, and the reputation has held for more than 20 years.

SEC KenPom ratings

Auburn (plus-32.12, 1st) leads all SEC programs followed by Tennessee (plus-30.99, 2nd), Alabama (plus-25.46, 7th), Florida (plus-25.30, 8th) and Kentucky (plus-24.94, 10th).

Thirteen of the 16 SEC programs are ranked inside the top 50.

Texas A&M (plus-20.76, 24th) moved back into the top 25, while Mississippi State (plus-20.36, 26th) and Ole Miss (plus-19.73, 27th) are both on the borderline of that threshold. Georgia (plus-17.49, 35th), Texas (plus-16.73, 38th), Oklahoma (plus-16.23, 42nd), Arkansas (plus-16.01, 45th) and Missouri (plus-14.77, 49th) are the other top-50 teams from the conference.

LSU (plus-14.44, 51st), Vanderbilt (plus-12.98, 60th) and South Carolina (plus-11.44, 68th) 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)
W-L	3-0	5-0	6-0	8-0	9-0
NetRtg	+19.83 (20)	+20.74 (22)	+21.86 (18)	+25.33 (8)	+25.30 (8)
ORtg	117.2 (13)	118.1 (11)	119.5 (8)	120.2 (9)	121.9 (5)
DRtg	97.4 (49)	97.4 (51)	97.6 (49)	94.9 (22)	96.6 (29)
AdjT	73.2 (47)	71.7 (72)	70.4 (93)	69.2 (125)	69.0 (131)
Luck	+.000 (117)	+.000 (182)	+.000 (188)	+.003 (181)	+.002 (187)
SOS Net	-4.16 (237)	-4.27 (239)	-3.79 (252)	-0.55 (189)	-1.28 (208)
SOS ORtg	100.8 (265)	100.0 (293)	101.4 (303)	103.2 (269)	102.6 (319)
SOS DRtg	105.0 (198)	104.3 (167)	105.2 (164)	103.8 (62)	103.9 (87)
NCSOS Net	-4.16 (237)	-4.27 (239)	-3.79 (252)	-0.55 (189)	-1.28 (209)

Since we last checked in with KenPom, Florida’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating has improved by 1.7 points per 100 possessions and the defense is allowing 1.7 more points per 100 possessions. Those numbers translate to a four-spot jump in the offensive ratings and a seven-spot dip on defense.

Florida’s adjusted tempo continues to drop, now at 69.0 possessions per 40 minutes after a preseason projection of 73.6. The Gators were one of the fastest-paced programs in the country a year ago but are now well outside of the top 100.

Florida has been expected to win most of its games, but a pair of neutral site matchups means that the Gators have a luck rating slightly above triple zeroes. Still, at plus-.002, 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. After a nice jump up the rankings last week, a matchup with Virginia has Florida’s strength of schedule ranked 208th in the country.

The rest of the non-conference schedule isn’t too daunting, but Arizona State (50th) and North Carolina (30th) are both decently rated. North Florida (175th) and Stetson (335th) give the Gators an easy finish to the calendar year.

Looking back at Florida’s nine wins: two have come against top 100 opponents, Florida State (66th) and Wichita State (89th); five have come against opponents rated between 100 and 200, Jacksonville (173rd), South Florida (147th), Southern Illinois (182nd), Virginia (108th) and Wake Forest (109th); and two have come against opponents rated outside of the top 200, Florida A&M (345th) and Grambling State (264th).

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Where are the Duke Blue Devils in the KenPom rankings after their win over Louisville?

Find out where KenPom ranks the Duke Blue Devils after their Sunday night victory over the Louisville Cardinals.

With the Duke Blue Devils stacking their third straight win on Sunday night, a 76-65 road comeback over Louisville Cardinals, they moved up to third in the KenPom men’s basketball rankings.

The Cardinals found the mark on eight of their first 11 3-point tries to take an early 30-16 lead, but the Blue Devils held them to just 28 points in the second half for their first conference win of the season. None of Duke’s opponents have scored more than 78 points this season, and KenPom still considers the Blue Devils the best defense in the country (89.2 adjusted points per 100 possessions).

On the offensive side, Duke has closed back in on the top 10 thanks to its last two showings. The Blue Devils also put 84 points on the board in their midweek victory over the No. 2 Auburn Tigers, and their 120.0 points per 100 possessions have them 12th in KenPom’s efficiency rankings.

Only three other teams rank within the top 12 on both sides of the ball, including the Tennessee Volunteers (No. 2), Houston Cougars (No. 5), and Iowa State Cyclones (No. 6). The Tigers, thanks to their top-ranked offense, remain in the top overall spot.

As of Monday morning, KenPom projects the Blue Devils will finish with a 26-5 record and an 18-2 run through the ACC.

Where Wisconsin basketball stands in KenPom and ESPN BPI after 0-2 week

The Wisconsin Badgers (8-2, 0-1 Big Ten) saw their red-hot momentum come to a screeching halt last week.

The team entered at 8-0 and ranked No. 11 in the nation. It then dropped two critical games — 67-64 at home vs. Michigan and 88-74 on the road at No. 5 Marquette.

The two losses dampen the team’s sky-high expectations. They begin to expose possible weaknesses, including inconsistent defense and struggles in the interior.

Notably, the two results also dropped the team in both KenPom and BPI. The Badgers are down to No. 37 in KenPom (No. 19 offense, No. 88 defense) and No. 36 in BPI. Those slots are good for No. 10 and No. 9 in the Big Ten, respectively.

Greg Gard’s team now faces a critical upcoming week with games at No. 19 Illinois and against Butler (neutral site). Those two contests can do one of two things — either wins will reverse the team’s course and reestablish it as one of the Big Ten’s best, or losses will continue the slide from the top of the rankings.

That Illinois game is set for Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. CT available exclusively on Peacock.

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Where is Duke basketball in the KenPom efficiency rankings after its win over Auburn?

See where the Duke Blue Devils ended up in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency rankings after their Wednesday win over Auburn.

The Duke Blue Devils notched their best win of the season on Wednesday night, an 84-78 triumph over the previously undefeated No. 2 Auburn Tigers, to remain analytical darlings in the men’s college basketball world.

As of Thursday morning, the Blue Devils moved up to third in the KenPom rankings. The popular analytics website measures points scored and allowed per 100 possessions while adjusting for strength of opponent, and the Tigers and Tennessee Volunteers are the only two teams in the country with a better differential than Duke.

The Blue Devils entered Wednesday’s game with the best defensive efficiency in the country, and after they held the electric Auburn offense under 80 points, they remained atop that category on Thursday. Duke has allowed 88.8 adjusted points per 100 possessions.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates made a leap on the offensive end, however. After three straight games under 80 points, Duke finally broke that barrier thanks to six first-half 3-pointers from freshman Isaiah Evans. The Blue Devils returned to the top 10 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 119.4 points per 100 possessions.

The Volunteers, undefeated through eight games, are the only other team within the top 10 on both sides of the ball.

The North Carolina Tar Heels, after losing their third straight game on Wednesday night, slipped down to No. 24 in the website’s rankings.

Wisconsin basketball dips in KenPom, ESPN BPI after loss to Michigan

Wisconsin basketball fell to 8-1 on the season with a 67-64 loss to Michigan on Tuesday.

The score seesawed for virtually the entire contest until Michigan center Vladislav Goldin orchestrated an individual scoring spurt late to put the Wolverines up for good. Michigan’s big men — Goldin and forward Danny Wolf — combined for 44 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks in the victory.

Two of Wisconsin’s primary contributors — center Steven Crowl and guard Max Klesmit — struggled mightily against the Wolverines. The two shot a combined 1-of-11 from the field and could not find a rhythm throughout the entire contest.

UW’s loss to Michigan is nowhere near an indictment the team and its quality. The Wolverines land at No. 17 in KenPom (No. 42 offense, No. 5 defense) and No. 32 in the ESPN BPI following the triumph — they could be among the best in the Big Ten.

Still, Wisconsin dipped a few spots in both rating metrics after the loss.

Greg Gard’s squad is now ranked No. 33 in KenPom (No. 25 offense, No. 56 defense) and No. 35 in the ESPN BPI. Following their win over Chicago State on Saturday, the Badgers were ranked No, 29 in KenPom and No. 31 in ESPN BPI.

Wisconsin’s next game could further dampen their positions in these ratings metrics. The Badgers are set to square off against No. 5 Marquette in Milwaukee on Dec. 7. The game will serve as a true indicator of what this team is capable of against true juggernauts in the sport.