UConn has been the gold standard in men’s college basketball recently, winning back-to-back national championships under coach Dan Hurley. But as the Huskies go for the three-peat, some believe they still have ground to make up.
KenPom.com, the popular college basketball advanced analysis site, came out with its preseason rankings on Monday. It has four teams ahead of UConn, including Houston, Duke, Auburn and Alabama. The Big 12 leads all conferences with four teams in the top 10, led by No. 1 Houston.
The Big 12, ACC, SEC, Big East – and even the West Coast Conference – all have teams ranked ahead of the first Big Ten team, which is No. 10 Purdue. All the way down at No. 23 is the next Big Ten team, Illinois, giving the conference just two top-25 teams compared to the Big 12’s eight.
While the Big Ten lacks top-end teams, according to KenPom, it doesn’t lack depth or parity. All 18 Big Ten teams are ranked between No. 10 and No. 75, with Washington at the bottom entering its first season under coach Danny Sprinkle.
The college basketball regular season is set to begin on Nov. 4, so here are the KenPom preseason rankings, from No. 1 to No. 364. The 18 Big Ten teams are in bold.
1. Houston
2. Duke
3. Auburn
4. Alabama
5. UConn
6. Kansas
7. Iowa State
8. Arizona
9. Gonzaga
10. Purdue
11. Baylor
12. Creighton
13. Tennessee
14. North Carolina
15. Texas Tech
16. Texas A&M
17. Cincinnati
18. Texas
19. St. John’s
20. Villanova
21. BYU
22. Marquette
23. Illinois
24. Clemson
25. Arkansas
26. UCLA
27. Dayton
28. Florida
29. Oregon
30. Xavier
31. Ohio State
32. Mississippi State
33. Iowa
34. Saint Mary’s
35. Michigan State
36. Michigan
37. Maryland
38. Pittsburgh
39. Indiana
40. Oklahoma
41. VCU
42. Kentucky
43. Memphis
44. Wake Forest
45. Boise State
46. Wisconsin
47. Ole Miss
48. San Diego State
49. Kansas State
50. Northwestern
51. LSU
52. NC State
53. Missouri
54. Grand Canyon
55. Miami FL
56. Nebraska
57. USC
58. TCU
59. Minnesota
60. Providence
61. Penn State
62. New Mexico
63. Rutgers
64. Louisville
65. South Carolina
66. UCF
67. Georgia
68. Syracuse
69. Notre Dame
70. Georgia Tech
71. Arizona State
72. Utah State
73. Nevada
74. SMU
75. Washington
76. Colorado State
77. Princeton
78. Virginia
79. Loyola Chicago
80. Colorado
81. North Texas
82. Utah
83. Butler
84. UAB
85. San Francisco
86. Saint Joseph’s
87. West Virginia
88. Georgetown
89. Oklahoma State
90. Florida State
92. Virginia Tech
93. Bradley
94. UNLV
95. Santa Clara
96. Vanderbilt
97. Vermont
98. George Mason
99. Stanford
100. UC Irvine
101. Wichita State
102. South Florida
103. McNeese State
104. Florida Atlantic
105. Saint Louis
106. Liberty
107. Louisiana Tech
108. High Point
109. Yale
110. Wofford
111. Washington State
112. Murray State
113. Boston College
114. Sam Houston State
115. Northern Iowa
116. Ohio
117. Massachusetts
118. Appalachian State
119. Seattle
120. UMass Lowell
121. Arkansas State
122. Rhode Island
123. St. Bonaventure
124. Troy
125. Davidson
126. East Carolina
127. Towson
128. Charlotte
129. Akron
130. UC San Diego
131. Loyola Marymount
132. Western Kentucky
133. Drake
134. Chattanooga
135. California
136. Charleston
137. Kent State
139. Richmond
140. Cal Baptist
141. Lipscomb
142. Purdue Fort Wayne
143. Duquesne
144. Oregon State
145. Bryant
146. George Washington
147. Southern Illinois
148. UC Santa Barbara
149. Samford
150. UT Arlington
151. Tulsa
152. East Tennessee State
153. Utah Valley
154. UNC Wilmington
155. Stephen F. Austin
156. Louisiana
157. Northern Kentucky
158. New Mexico State
159. Marshall
160. Indiana State
161. James Madison
162. Abilene Christian
163. Winthrop
164. Fordham
165. Furman
166. DePaul
167. La Salle
168. Cornell
169. UC Riverside
170. Belmont
171. UTEP
172. Milwaukee
173. Oakland
174. Weber State
175. UC Davis
176. Montana
177. Toledo
178. Texas State
179. Hofstra
180. South Dakota State
181. UNC Greensboro
182. Cleveland State
183. Youngstown State
184. Georgia Southern
185. Middle Tennessee
186. Nicholls
187. Georgia State
188. Tulane
189. Montana State
190. Longwood
191. Jacksonville
192. Penn
193. Quinnipiac
194. UNC Asheville
195. Illinois State
196. Southern Utah
197. Northern Colorado
198. Hawaii
199. Wright State
200. San Jose State
201. Kansas City
202. Monmouth
203. St. Thomas
204. Evansville
205. Iona
206. Florida Gulf Coast
207. Tarleton State
208. Air Force
209. Columbia
210. Northeastern
211. Miami OH
212. Mercer
213. North Alabama
214. Howard
215. Wyoming
216. North Dakota State
217. Colgate
218. Valparaiso
219. Missouri State
220. Illinois Chicago
221. Jacksonville State
222. Drexel
223. Kennesaw State
224. William & Mary
225. UTSA
226. Saint Peter’s
227. Merrimack
228. Portland State
229. Norfolk State
230. American
231. Boston University
232. Pepperdine
233. Texas A&M Corpus Christi
234. Rice
235. South Alabama
236. Marist
237. Albany
238. Charleston Southern
239. Old Dominion
240. Ball State
241. Fairfield
242. Oral Roberts
243. Brown
244. Delaware
245. Rider
246. Bucknell
247. Southern Miss
248. Morehead State
249. Southern
250. North Dakota
251. Little Rock
252. Cal State Northridge
253. North Florida
254. Maine
255. North Carolina Central
256. Grambling State
257. Navy
258. Western Carolina
259. Harvard
260. Cal State Fullerton
261. Radford
262. Bowling Green
263. Utah Tech
264. Lehigh
265. South Dakota
266. Mount St. Mary’s
267. Stony Brook
268. Central Michigan
269. Wagner
270. Long Beach State
271. Austin Peay
272. Gardner Webb
273. Fresno State
274. Portland
275. Lafayette
276. FIU
277. South Carolina State
278. Lamar
279. Texas Southern
280. Northern Arizona
281. UMBC
282. Alabama State
283. Eastern Washington
284. Idaho
285. Southeastern Louisiana
286. Eastern Kentucky
287. Pacific
288. Robert Morris
289. North Carolina A&T
290. Army
291. Presbyterian
292. Cal State Bakersfield
293. Eastern Michigan
294. Western Illinois
295. San Diego
296. Coastal Carolina
297. Stetson
298. Elon
299. Elon
300. Sacramento State
301. Bethune Cookman
302. Tennessee State
303. Central Connecticut
304. Louisiana Monroe
305. Bellarmine
306. Campbell
307. UT Rio Grande Valley
308. Idaho State
309. Canisius
310. Binghamton
311. Morgan State
313. Western Michigan
314. Dartmouth
315. Denver
316. Manhattan
317. Northern Illinois
318. Nebraska Omaha
319. New Hampshire
320. Green Bay
321. SIUE
322. Niagara
323. Incarnate Word
324. Southern Indiana
325. Northwestern State
326. Jackson State
327. Central Arkansas
328. West Georgia
329. Southeast Missouri
330. Siena
331. Delaware State
332. Eastern Illinois
333. Alcorn State
334. NJIT
335. Chicago State
336. Le Moyne
337. Sacred Heart
338. Detroit Mercy
339. Tennessee Martin
340. Prairie View A&M
341. The Citadel
342. Holy Cross
343. Cal Poly
344. Tennessee Tech
345. Lindenwood
346. New Orleans
347. Buffalo
348. USC Upstate
349. Alabama A&M
350. Saint Francis
351. Fairleigh Dickinson
352. Loyola (MD)
353. LIU
354. Arkansas Pine Bluff
355. Mercyhurst
356. Stonehill
357. Houston Christian
358. Florida A&M
359. VMI
360. Texas A&M Commerce
361. IU Indy
362. Maryland Eastern Shore
363. Coppin State
364. Mississippi Valley State
