KenPom 2020-2021 KenPom Rankings Thread

[49r]

58 minutes ago, tcp said:

 

still, I'm loving this finish. it's what this program desperately needed (and us fans, too). That sliver of light just keeps getting just a bit bigger with each week. And if we can see it, so can the players.

 

 

to me, this season feels a lot like the 2012-13 season.  Pretty dismal for the most part but remember we closed down the BDSC with a few pretty impressive wins which catapulted us to quite a lot of success the next year at PBA.

 

We started off in the fall of 2012 with a sub-TWO HUNDRED kenpom ranking.  Let that soak in a bit.  We hit our high point at #127 after our first round win over Purdue in the BTT.

 

It's fun to go back through the old KenPom rankings threads.  I should keep on top of updating these more (even after losses) and try to write more commentary like I used to.  Here's that very first KP Rankings thread if anyone wants a laugh:

 

[49r]

1 minute ago, 49r said:

We hit our high point at #127 after our first round win over Purdue in the BTT.

 

For a bit of perspective, our low point this year (despite all of the well-documented challenges and playing in the highest rated conference ever in the history of mankind) was #130 for the Illinois game at home.  Even though we lost that game we jumped up to #127 and now stand at #91 going in to tonight's game at Iowa.

[49r]

Only slipped to #95 in today's KenPom rankings.

 

But we did move up to the #3 overall schedule strength.  Iowa dropped a spot in SOS:

 

Data through games of Thursday, March 4 (3868 games)

													Strength of Schedule						NCSOS
Rk	Team	Conf	W-L	AdjEM	AdjO		AdjD		AdjT		Luck		AdjEM		OppO		OppD		AdjEM
68	Northwestern	B10	8-14	+13.24	106.0	120	92.7	33	69.1	153	-.107	338	+20.07	1	113.8	1	93.7	2	-19.46	326
34	Penn St.	B10	9-13	+17.98	112.7	31	94.7	54	69.6	124	-.065	304	+19.25	2	112.4	3	93.2	1	+10.89	40
95	Nebraska	B10	7-18	+8.79	101.6	192	92.8	35	72.5	30	-.109	343	+17.90	3	112.5	2	94.6	9	+3.77	133
39	Indiana	B10	12-13	+17.26	111.0	49	93.8	43	66.4	290	-.042	266	+17.54	4	111.3	6	93.7	3	+7.86	73
61	Michigan St.	B10	14-11	+14.12	107.5	95	93.3	40	68.7	173	+.108	19	+16.75	5	112.2	4	95.4	19	-1.23	214
31	Rutgers	B10	13-10	+18.39	109.3	68	90.9	18	67.9	213	+.011	142	+16.74	6	112.2	5	95.4	18	-6.09	280
54	Kentucky	SEC	8-15	+15.34	107.9	87	92.6	31	68.1	197	-.130	350	+16.73	7	110.8	12	94.1	5	+14.57	17
59	Minnesota	B10	13-13	+14.39	111.4	42	97.0	80	69.9	110	+.025	119	+16.65	8	111.2	8	94.5	8	-1.15	212
5	Illinois	B10	19-6	+29.63	118.4	9	88.8	7	70.8	74	+.006	151	+16.61	9	111.2	7	94.6	10	+8.07	70
176	Iowa St.	B12	2-20	-0.14	100.8	213	100.9	147	70.3	98	-.111	344	+16.35	10	111.1	9	94.7	11	+2.48	154
7	Ohio St.	B10	18-7	+25.74	122.6	4	96.9	79	67.3	247	+.006	152	+16.26	11	110.6	13	94.4	6	+1.82	166
14	Purdue	B10	17-8	+23.07	114.1	18	91.1	20	66.6	274	+.024	120	+16.12	12	111.1	10	94.9	14	+4.86	114
11	Wisconsin	B10	16-10	+23.35	112.8	29	89.5	11	65.2	324	-.036	256	+15.97	13	110.4	15	94.4	7	+0.65	185
28	Maryland	B10	15-11	+19.68	111.8	38	92.1	27	65.2	325	-.026	237	+15.67	14	109.5	22	93.9	4	-1.89	225
2	Michigan	B10	19-2	+32.66	119.5	7	86.9	4	67.5	236	+.071	48	+15.27	15	110.9	11	95.7	23	+2.34	156
4	Iowa	B10	19-7	+30.14	125.1	2	95.0	56	70.1	103	-.042	268	+14.70	16	109.6	20	94.9	15	-6.01	279
43	Missouri	SEC	15-7	+16.59	112.0	36	95.4	59	68.8	163	+.113	17	+14.32	17	109.2	25	94.9	12	+9.00	57
103	South Carolina	SEC	6-13	+8.05	105.7	123	97.7	91	75.0	5	-.063	301	+14.24	18	109.2	30	94.9	13	+8.51	65
42	Clemson	ACC	15-6	+16.71	106.2	115	89.5	12	64.8	331	+.151	7	+14.00	19	109.5	23	95.5	20	+11.02	39
23	Kansas	B12	19-8	+21.39	110.3	55	88.9	9	68.5	181	+.034	103	+13.71	20	109.7	19	96.0	26	+9.14	55

 

 

[hhcmatt]

24 minutes ago, 49r said:

But we did move up to the #3 overall schedule strength.  Iowa dropped a spot in SOS:

 

Maybe we have a chance to pass Northwestern because they will have to add us at home to their SOS.

[49r]

One more update to go and I'm going to start on that now.  In the meantime, enjoy this video:

 

 

[hhcmatt]

According to this relatively non-biased and impartial computer ranking system we have improved from last year.

[49r]

Well, another year is in the books, and it was a mostly terrible one.  Massively shortened by covid, we put a team out there that had essentially zero Big Ten playing experience against the deepest, oldest, most talented, highest ranked Big Ten conference ever.  Possibly the best college basketball conference in the history of the NCAA, and I honestly don't think that's hyperbole.  I could easily see us finishing in the top half of a mediocre conference like the Pac 12 or Big East this year.

 

We started off the season without Eduardo Andre (covid) and Derrick Walker (suspension), and just as we got those two back, we had to pause for almost a month while the rest of the team and some coaches fought through covid.

 

We had our top scorer get suspended for violating team rules and subsequently leave the team to focus on his future.

 

We played 14 games in 30 days - a feat that on its face is an incredibly Herculean task for anyone, let alone college student athletes - and despite all those hurdles we saw the team make improvements in leaps.

 

Our shooting improved throughout the season, our assists and rebounds significantly improved and we were never really blown out except for games on the road against the 4th and 7th best teams in the nation.

 

We started the season ranked #117, dropped as low as #130 after the loss at home to Wisconsin, rose to as high as #91 after throttling Rutgers at home and finished up the year at #93.  It's a small step, but it's a trend in the right direction.  If we do in fact bring the core of this team back next year, one could see how great strides can be taken further down the path of where we want to be.

 

This is going to do it for KenPom updates for this season, as always it's been a pleasure to put this together.  Hopefully next year there will be more reasons for me to update more frequently!    But with all that said, and without further delay...

 

Here is today's KenPom update:

KenPom rankings as of 3-11-21
=======================

 

B1G (3-17):
3. Michigan - L
4. Iowa - L
5. Illinois - L, L
7. Ohio State - L
11. Wisconsin - L, L
13. Purdue - L
30. Maryland - L, L
33. Rutgers - W
35. Penn State - W, L, L
39. Indiana - L
55. Michigan State - L, L
60. Minnesota - L, W
70. Northwestern - L
93. Nebraska

Non-Conference (4-3):
340. McNeese State - W

 

---Golden Window Classic---
95. Nevada - L
145. North Dakota State - W

 

176. South Dakota - W

 

---B1G/ACC Challenge---
31. Georgia Tech - L

 

17. Creighton - L

NR. Doane - W

[HuskerFever]

"The Big Ten is down this year."

[hskr4life]

24 minutes ago, HuskerFever said:

"The Big Ten is down this year."

 

Wow... 14 in the top 14.  That is amazing really.  Especially with no OOC schedule for anyone this year.

[Navin R. Johnson]

4 hours ago, hskr4life said:

 

Wow... 14 in the top 14.  That is amazing really.  Especially with no OOC schedule for anyone this year.

 

Maybe we weren't that bad.  Throw in Creighton and Georgia Tech to the mix makes for an unbelievably tough schedule. When a solid Nevada team is your worse loss, wow.   

[49r]

12 minutes ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

Maybe we weren't that bad.

 

We weren't.  Put us in the Big East or Pac 12 and we're a bubble team.

[HuskerFever]

Just now, 49r said:

14 minutes ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

Maybe we weren't that bad.

 

We weren't.  Put us in the Big East or Pac 12 and we're a bubble team.

 

Like the optimism, but I'm not so sure about that. We struggled in the first half of the season, then started to find a rhythm. And even playing a weaker nonconference schedule in the Big East or Pac-12, we still would have had to finish in the top 3-4 teams. I struggle believing we're a Top 25% team in those conferences this year.

[49r]

39 minutes ago, HuskerFever said:

 

Like the optimism, but I'm not so sure about that. We struggled in the first half of the season, then started to find a rhythm. And even playing a weaker nonconference schedule in the Big East or Pac-12, we still would have had to finish in the top 3-4 teams. I struggle believing we're a Top 25% team in those conferences this year.

 

I don't at all.  After the top 3-4 teams in either of those leagues it's pure garbage.  And we were very competitive in pretty much every game we played...the third most difficult schedule in the nation.  I think we would have had a real good shot at top 4 in both of those leagues.

[Milk]

50 minutes ago, 49r said:

 

We weren't.  Put us in the Big East or Pac 12 and we're a bubble team.

Lol.   Not so much.  We lost to a bad NW team and Penn St twice.   Neither one of those would be in top half of either conference 

[jdw]

On 3/14/2021 at 7:43 PM, Milk said:

Lol.   Not so much.  We lost to a bad NW team and Penn St twice.   Neither one of those would be in top half of either conference 

They would both be in the top half of the big east.

[HuskerFever]

On 3/14/2021 at 8:38 PM, 49r said:

 

I don't at all.  After the top 3-4 teams in either of those leagues it's pure garbage.  And we were very competitive in pretty much every game we played...the third most difficult schedule in the nation.  I think we would have had a real good shot at top 4 in both of those leagues.

 

Not trolling you what-so-ever, this just came to mind as I'm watching the UCLA/Michigan State game. Curious to hear your thoughts.

 

Where do you see us stack up against UCLA? They're the #4 team in the Pac-12. We lost to Michigan State in both of our attempts this year; UCLA just knocked Michigan State out of the tournament. I just struggle to see our roster matching up against UCLA and being in the top 4 of the Pac-12 this season. Sure, there's 10 Pac-12 teams better than us in the NET rankings and a large part of that is likely attributed to our losses in such a heavy SOS league, but I'd probably lean closer to #5-7 in the Pac-12 than I would #1-4.

[49r]

48 minutes ago, HuskerFever said:

 

Not trolling you what-so-ever, this just came to mind as I'm watching the UCLA/Michigan State game. Curious to hear your thoughts.

 

Where do you see us stack up against UCLA? They're the #4 team in the Pac-12. We lost to Michigan State in both of our attempts this year; UCLA just knocked Michigan State out of the tournament. I just struggle to see our roster matching up against UCLA and being in the top 4 of the Pac-12 this season. Sure, there's 10 Pac-12 teams better than us in the NET rankings and a large part of that is likely attributed to our losses in such a heavy SOS league, but I'd probably lean closer to #5-7 in the Pac-12 than I would #1-4.

 

Not sure what happened but MSU was getting set to destroy UCLA and then it looks like they just lost interest or something.  To me it looks more like a case of what MSU did wrong tonight then what UCLA did right.

[jimmykc]

MSU didn't look like a cohesive team during the time I watched with players going after each other and Izzo on camera. They didn't seem to want to be there. I was so interested, I went to bed when UCLA took their first lead in the second half. And I have followed the Bruins so closely that I thought Alford was still their coach. 

[AuroranHusker]

UCLA had two dudes who took over the game, and MSU doesn't have that on its roster.

 

 

[49r]

X-Post from the 2021-2022 Expectations thread:

 

 

 

Which is interesting because since our last game in the BTT we've dropped from #92 to #109 in the most recent KenPom rankings.

 

Of course, we need to keep in mind that we won't be the only school adding and subtracting through the portal so it's hard to say if we actually move up to the top 40-ish...but still it's encouraging to think about it.

[49r]

Also, the run that the Pac 12 is on is pretty spectacular, they have now moved in to the #2 slot in the KP conference rankings (no chance of surpassing the Big Ten however):

 

Ranking of conferences by AdjEM of team that's expected to go .500 in conference play

Conference		Rating	Conference		Rating
1	Big Ten Conference	+18.75	17	Ivy League	-4.63
2	Pac 12 Conference	+16.03	18	Big Sky Conference	-4.89
3	Big 12 Conference	+15.95	19	Colonial Athletic Association	-5.03
4	Southeastern Conference	+14.28	20	Horizon League	-5.76
5	Atlantic Coast Conference	+13.26	21	Sun Belt Conference	-6.07
6	Big East Conference	+13.12	22	Ohio Valley Conference	-6.99
7	American Athletic Conference	+8.46	23	Western Athletic Conference	-7.14
8	West Coast Conference	+7.97	24	Patriot League	-7.28
9	Atlantic 10 Conference	+6.01	25	America East Conference	-7.58
10	Missouri Valley Conference	+2.99	26	ASUN Conference	-8.25
11	Mountain West Conference	+2.76	27	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	-8.39
12	Mid American Conference	+1.26	28	Big South Conference	-9.12
13	Conference USA	+1.01	29	Northeast Conference	-10.91
14	Southern Conference	+1.01	30	Southland Conference	-12.23
15	Big West Conference	-2.30	31	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	-15.59
16	Summit League	-4.57	32	Southwestern Athletic Conference	-16.87

[49r]

Also of note.  Oregon State started off the Pac 12 tournament with a KenPom ranking of #103, roughly the same as our ranking.  Now they're up to #43 going in to tonight's game against Houston:

 

Pac 12 Conference Tournament
Thu Mar 11	103	16	UCLA	W, 83-79	75	OT	Neutral	15-12
Fri Mar 12	96	15	Oregon	W, 75-64	64		Neutral	16-12
Sat Mar 13	85	9	Colorado	W, 70-68	59		Neutral	17-12
NCAA Tournament - 12 seed
Fri Mar 19	84	27	Tennessee	W, 70-56	67		Neutral	18-12
Sun Mar 21	63	34	Oklahoma St.	W, 80-70	78		Neutral	19-12
Sat Mar 27	48	10	Loyola Chicago	W, 65-58	60		Neutral	20-12
Mon Mar 29		3	Houston	L, 71-62	63	21%	Neutral

[49r]

Thought I'd do one last one now that the final rankings for the year are set.

 

Here is today's KenPom update:

KenPom rankings as of 4-06-21
=======================

 

B1G (3-17):
3. Michigan - L
4. Illinois - L, L
7. Iowa - L
11. Ohio State - L
14. Wisconsin - L, L
25. Purdue - L
35. Maryland - L, L
38. Rutgers - W
40. Penn State - W, L, L
50. Indiana - L
62. Minnesota - L, W
64. Michigan State - L, L
79. Northwestern - L
109. Nebraska

Non-Conference (4-3):
340. McNeese State - W

 

---Golden Window Classic---
91. Nevada - L
139. North Dakota State - W

 

159. South Dakota - W

 

---B1G/ACC Challenge---
37. Georgia Tech - L

 

22. Creighton - L

NR. Doane - W

[hhcmatt]

Hoiberg's best defensive numbers

[Go Big Fred]

8 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

Hoiberg's best defensive numbers

Pretty Impressive considering how there aren't too many high level defenders on this team