KenPom released his preseason rankings and has Minnesota 71st (up from 192 last year) overall in the country (in a virtual tie for 10th with Illinois in the Big Ten). Those rankings are determined by Adjusted Efficiency Margin (AdjEM), which represents the number of points the team would be expected to outscore the average Division 1 team over 100 possessions. In 2016, Minnesota had a AdjEM of -2.75, but have jumped up to a projected AdjEM of 8.59 at the start of the year, accounting for a AdjEM difference of 11.34 points.
The 121 spot jump in rank is the third highest in all of Division 1, behind La Salle (166) and Rice (127). Only one other Power 6 school has a jump of more than 100 spots, and that is St. John's jumping 103 spots from 211 to 108.
The 11.34 increase in AdjEM is also the third highest in D1, behind La Salle (14.33) and Bradley (11.47). No other school from a Power 6 has more than even an increase of 10 (Ohio St. improves the second most among Power 6 schools at 9.41).
These are the rankings for the Big Ten. In parenthesis, the first number is their 2017 projected AdjEM, the second number is the difference between the 2017 and 2016 AdjEM (positive number indicating improvement), and the third is their national rank (out of 351 teams) in terms of improvement in AdjEM.
8. Wisconsin (23.32, 6.80, 23)
13. Ohio St. (19.4, 9.41, 8)
14. Michigan St. (19.32, -8.61, 340)
15. Purdue (19.27, -4.60, 295)
16. Indiana (19.09, -3.93, 282)
31. Michigan (16.28, 2.12, 116)
48. Maryland (14.05, -6.20, 321)
55. Iowa (13.04, -7.21, 331)
61. Northwestern (10.35, -0.71, 196)
70. Illinois (8.59, 4.68, 57)
71. Minnesota (8.59, 11.34, 3)
87. Nebraska (6.58, -2.27, 236)
98. Penn St. (5.45, 2.86, 96)
191. Rutgers (-1.54, 9.07, 9)
In terms of other Big Ten schools, Ohio State surprised me with them being in second, as most places I've seen kind of have Wisconsin/MSU/Purdue/Indiana the top four in some order. Also, while Penn State has been getting some hype as a sleeper to perhaps threaten the bubble (or at least the NIT), KenPom has them falling back to next to last in the conference. He seems to have Minnesota where most people have Penn St. (in that tier with Northwestern and Illinois), and has Penn St. where most people have Minnesota.
Not going to go through too deeply with these, but these are the national rankings for our toughest NC foes:
40. Florida St.
53. Arkansas
64. Vanderbilt
67. UT-Arlington
108. St. John's
Just thought this would be of some interest for those looking forward to basketball season.
The 121 spot jump in rank is the third highest in all of Division 1, behind La Salle (166) and Rice (127). Only one other Power 6 school has a jump of more than 100 spots, and that is St. John's jumping 103 spots from 211 to 108.
The 11.34 increase in AdjEM is also the third highest in D1, behind La Salle (14.33) and Bradley (11.47). No other school from a Power 6 has more than even an increase of 10 (Ohio St. improves the second most among Power 6 schools at 9.41).
These are the rankings for the Big Ten. In parenthesis, the first number is their 2017 projected AdjEM, the second number is the difference between the 2017 and 2016 AdjEM (positive number indicating improvement), and the third is their national rank (out of 351 teams) in terms of improvement in AdjEM.
8. Wisconsin (23.32, 6.80, 23)
13. Ohio St. (19.4, 9.41, 8)
14. Michigan St. (19.32, -8.61, 340)
15. Purdue (19.27, -4.60, 295)
16. Indiana (19.09, -3.93, 282)
31. Michigan (16.28, 2.12, 116)
48. Maryland (14.05, -6.20, 321)
55. Iowa (13.04, -7.21, 331)
61. Northwestern (10.35, -0.71, 196)
70. Illinois (8.59, 4.68, 57)
71. Minnesota (8.59, 11.34, 3)
87. Nebraska (6.58, -2.27, 236)
98. Penn St. (5.45, 2.86, 96)
191. Rutgers (-1.54, 9.07, 9)
In terms of other Big Ten schools, Ohio State surprised me with them being in second, as most places I've seen kind of have Wisconsin/MSU/Purdue/Indiana the top four in some order. Also, while Penn State has been getting some hype as a sleeper to perhaps threaten the bubble (or at least the NIT), KenPom has them falling back to next to last in the conference. He seems to have Minnesota where most people have Penn St. (in that tier with Northwestern and Illinois), and has Penn St. where most people have Minnesota.
Not going to go through too deeply with these, but these are the national rankings for our toughest NC foes:
40. Florida St.
53. Arkansas
64. Vanderbilt
67. UT-Arlington
108. St. John's
Just thought this would be of some interest for those looking forward to basketball season.
