In much of college basketball media and betting sites, in addition to many analysts’ eyes, the Kansas Jayhawks will enter the 2024-2025 season ranked #1 in the country. The highly regarded advanced analysis system, KenPom, however, does not view KU basketball as the favorites or even a top five team according to its preseason rankings.
Dating back to 2015, every team that has won the NCAA championship has finished ranked top 3three in the KenPom efficiency rankings. In 2022, the Kansas Jayhawks were ranked No. 3 in KenPom for their championship-winning season. The last team to break this trend was in 2014 when UConn won as a seventh seed and were ranked No. 515 in KenPom by the end of the season.
Currently, KenPom has Kansas ranked at No. 6 in the nation, which feels very peculiar when looking at the Jayhawks roster on paper. Not only do they have an All-American and preseason Big 12 POTY in Hunter Dickinson, but they have an incredible roster around him, unlike much of last season. Additionally, KU has a top two head coach in college basketball with Bill Self.
Ranked above Kansas in the KenPom preseason rankings are KU’s Big 12 rival, Houston (No. 1), long-time “Blue Blood” rival, Duke (No. 2), the back-to-back NCAA Champions in UConn (No. 5), and two SEC basketball teams in Auburn (No. 3) and Alabama (No. 4). These teams are worthy company for KU for sure, but why are the Jayhawks ranked so lowly for KenPom?
Pomeroy projects Kansas to have the 5th best defense in the Big 12
Offensively, Kansas is ranked sixth in KenPom for adjusted offensive efficiency (114.1) and are the smallest of margins away from being tied for third with Creighton, Purdue, and Houston (114.2 each). Safe to say that the crimson and blue offense should be in a great spot.
Defensively is where KU is projected to run into more issues. They are ranked No. 10 in adjusted defensive efficiency at 89.7. Not only are they well below nine other teams in the nation, but four of those teams also reside in the Big 12: Houston (No. 1), Iowa State (No. 2), Texas Tech (No. 7), and Arizona (No. 9).
While KenPom certainly does not anticipate Kansas to struggle as much as last season, where they finished ranked No. 27 in the Pomeroy rankings, it certainly looks like the Big 12 will be a bloodbath yet again. Luckily, KU has the best home court advantage in college basketball at Allen Fieldhouse and are almost never home-underdogs when it comes to the Phog.
The Pomeroy rankings do adjust throughout the season, so starting out in sixth place per se is not a major issue for the Jayhawks, but history does tend to repeat itself… Due to this, KU fans will feel much better about the Jayhawks March Madness chances in five months if the team can creep into the top three for KenPom like they did back in 2022.