Pre-tourney involves diving into spreadsheets and doing a little more work. How dominant was Kansas this season? Now, the Big 12 isn't a heavy 3 point shooting league, so there is some debate about whether we're running teams off the line better (could be with less McCormack on the perimeter) or whether we're just playing teams that can't hurt us that way. Yeah jump every single time a guy looks at the basketball. If you’re thinking that the math is slightly off in terms of how many games Marquette will play this season, you’re right. It's just lower than any team has ever finished the season per Kenpom. As you can see by the six teams ranked between 17 and 36, KenPom has the Big East being a bloodbath this season. Pittsburgh (remind us of this 65-66-67 combo when we complain later this season how hard it is to differentiate the middle-to-bottom of the ACC)79. Last season, Virginia, of course, finished atop the KenPom standings (and indeed, atop the entire world...not sure if you’ve heard but the Hoos are the national champions). That led to ranking in the top 25 in both categories. Rounding out the Top 10 are Kentucky (2), Purdue (7), Villanova (8), Gonzaga (9), and Kansas (10). Finished the season is the key point. The tourney will be chaos. Overall, AdjD is much stronger than AdjO across the board in CBB this season compared to last year, which bodes well for us. 17. Overall, 34th on defense seems both fair and something that you could easily sign me up for right now. All ten — yes, ten! 8389grad said... (original post)And ................. Oscar just realized that the rules allow him to block shots. More like he's just so freakishly long, and is athletic enough, it'd be hard for him not to. 22 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency. We are #1 in AdjEM on Kenpom. Same here, but only if it's a high volume 3 point shooting team that can also rebound. Counterpoint: this year could be the exception to that rule, since WVU gave up a lot of points to poor programs early in the year, but the Big 12 as a whole is loaded with defense and lackluster offenses this year. 11 defense. 60 defense could have kept BYU from going deeper in March. 11. © 2005-2020 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 24. None of their losses have been disgraces, they’re sitting near the bottom of the luck standings, and their defense is probably underrated by my stats because they know they don’t need it on every possession with the scoring punch they have. Purdue finished with the No. 19. Defensively, Duke didn't just limit quality looks, the Blue Devils almost eliminated clean looks off the catch, ranking third in defensive assist rate. And while the Bulldogs struggled from that point (they did win their final three games to salvage a winning record in conference), they still finished 25th, thanks to the No. The last time the #1 Kenpom team was as low as our rating was 2006. The defense ranked 76th, but had the Ducks been healthy all year, it surely would have been better. The reigning national champions come in at No. If you haven’t subscribed to KenPom.com already, it’s well worth your dollars. 40 offense and No. The NCAA Tournament's top seed over that same time period has won three times (with one of them vacated). 4 AdjO), have really slipped under the radar thus far as a stellar defensive team (No. 10 and No. The defense improving to 34th is really no shocker. 16. That’s right, the Marquette Golden Eagles team who lost two of their best players has actually moved up in the rankings from last year’s final rankings by 16 spots, from their 33rd place finish last year, as well as seven spots higher than their peak before the implosion that followed. 78 defense. The Jayhawks were the only team this year to boast a top 10 team on both sides of the court, for much of the year the Jayhawks looked capable of breaking Texas Tech's mark a year ago as the best adjusted defensive efficiency in the KenPom era. Michigan (19-12)The Wolverines helped their efficiency with some terrific runs of play, including the 7-0 start to the season and an eight-game streak in conference play where the Wolverines won seven contests. That's an astonishing change. Where some see fatigue, I see bad bounces and a tough schedule. The Flyers' defense also just snuck inside the acceptable range for potential title contenders, ranking 38th in adjusted defensive efficiency. © 2005-2020 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2020-21 Big East Men’s Basketball Preview: Connecticut Huskies. The 2020-21 Big East Men’s Basketball Team Previews! This season’s version has been slightly better on defense than offense if you want to split hairs. Our whole team is bad about leaving their feet with any kind of head or ball fake. 8. That helped Dayton rank second in adjusted offensive efficiency. 13. The No. That is the basis for the ratings system. And we have UNC, a defensive juggernaut.