Conventional wisdom says the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team is going to fall off this season. Having to replace four starters and two NBA first-round draft picks will certainly inform that conventional wisdom.
However, don’t look at Ken Pomeroy and his statistical-based rankings as buying in to the narrative. That’s because he has the Wisconsin Badgers sitting at No. 9 in his preseason rankings.
According to the KenPom.com rankings, the Badgers have the ability to be a top 10 scoring team, ranking eighth in the Adjusted Offense category (112.1). He also sees Wisconsin continuing its tradition of buckle-down defense, coming in to the season projected to be the 19th best defensive team in the country via Adjusted Defense (92.7).
The No. 1 team in the country via KenPom.com is reigning champions, Duke. Rounding out the top 5 are Kentucky, Virginia, Kansas and Villanova. Joining the Badgers in the second half of the top 10 are No. 6 Arizona, followed by North Carolina, Gonzaga, the Badgers and Baylor at No. 10.
Indiana was the next team on the list from the Big Ten, coming in at No. 13. Michigan and Michigan State were next at No. 17 and 18 respectively. Purdue was No. 22 and projected Big Ten champion, Maryland, was rated as the No. 24 team in the country per KenPom.com.
The rest of the Big Ten looked like this — Iowa (No. 36), Ohio State (No. 42), Northwestern (No. 51), Illinois (No. 61), Minnesota (No. 66), Penn State (No. 119), Nebraska (No. 137) and Rutgers (No. 223).
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