Arkansas debuts at 29th in KenPom rankings
Advanced stats and analytics are commonplace in the sports world now. One of the most popular in the realm of college basketball released its preseason rankings Sunday. KenPom, a basketball analytics site named after its founder, Ken Pomeroy, measures different data points.
Those include offensive efficiency, defensive efficiency, tempo, strength of schedule, and more.
The Razorbacks debut in this year’s KenPom rankings at No. 29. That is good enough for ninth in the SEC. Specifically, Arkansas checks in with the No. 29 ranked offense and No. 25 ranked defense. Other numbers are not populated yet due to a lack of data and performances, like strength of schedule and luck.
Last season, Arkansas finished KenPom ranked No. 36 after a run to the Sweet Sixteen. The Razorbacks finished with the no. 64 offense and No. 18 defense in the country last season.
KenPom is one of the data points the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses in examining teams seedings and resumes. The rankings are important, but there will be a great deal of fluidity. The rankings are updated each day during the season.
SEC in the initial KenPom rankings:
- 2) Florida
- 4) Kentucky
- 9) Tennessee
- 19) Vanderbilt
- 23) Alabama
- 24) Ole Miss
- 26) Mississippi State
- 28) Missouri
- 29) Arkansas
- 31) Auburn
- 35) Texas A&M
- 39) Texas
- 44) Georgia
- 56) LSU
- 58) Oklahoma
- 86) South Carolina
