Post by Whup Em All on Oct 18, 2021 10:52:48 GMT -6
Ken Pomeroy has released his preseason rankings for the 2021-2022 hoops season.
The Gamecocks are ranked 2nd in the ASUN at #136. Liberty takes the top spot at #97.
Because I really hate the OVC, and also because I'm kind of a spiteful jerk, I decided to see how the ASUN stacks up against the vaulted "BASKETBALL CONFERENCE" we used to call home. I also included our region's other two "hoops-centric" mid-major conferences, the SoCon and SBC. (I did not include CUSA, but probably should have. Maybe later, when I have more time to waste. Don't have any this morning.)
Also, these rankings are all for THIS season. I'm not looking (yet) at how things look after realignment shuffles everything. Again... time.
OK, so after crunching way too many numbers, here's a summary of my findings:
The average KenPom ranking of all four conferences is 221.3. We shall refer to this as the suck line. You want to be ranked above this line.
First, let's look at conference averages:
The SoCon takes the top spot at 191.60. Not a big surprise, as the conference has actually put legitimate pressure on its members to support their hoops programs in an effort to raise its stature beyond that of a one-bid league. Of the SoCon's 10 members, 60% are above the suck line. Their top 4 teams have an impressive average of 135.5, and their bottom 4 are a respectable 258.25. Want to know why Chatty is reluctant to leave? Here's your answer.
Next up is the Sun Belt. Their conference average is 214.08. Like the SoCon, the SBC office has pressured its teams to improve their basketball, so this ranking is probably a little disappointing, but it's still not bad for a mid-major conference. Of the Belt's 6 teams, exactly half are above the suck line. Their top 4 teams are a solid 150.5. Their lower 4 are the problem, coming in at an unimpressive 272.5. It's worth noting that if top-ranked Ga State (#103) moves to a new conference, the SoCon's dreams of basketball respectability will take a serious hit. Their next highest ranked team is Texas State, at #152.
The ASUN, which, if you believe the hype, was supposedly a step down from the mighty OVC in basketball, is close behind the SBC (but just below the suck line) at 224.08. Fully SEVEN of the league's 12 teams are above the suck line, an impressive 58.33%. The ASUN's top 4 teams (the aforementioned Liberty and JSU, plus Bellarmine and Stetson) are virtually tied with the Sun Belt's top 4, at 150.75. The bottom four let us down, though, with a terrible 301.5 average ranking. Step it up, guys.
Now we come to the meat of the discussion... the basketball powerhouse conference we left for our current digs... the one... the only... Ohio Valley Conference. Even with Belmont (#77) and Murray (#128) leading the way, the OVC's conference average is well behind the others at 256.3. Only THREE teams out of 10 in the conference are above the suck line. (Congrats to Morehead for not sucking.) For those of you bad at math, that means 70% of the OVC's members are below the suck line. The top 4 have an average of only 158.5, dragged down by No. 4 SEMO and their terrible #268 ranking. As you can imagine, the OVC's bottom four don't help the conference's image at all, coming in with an embarrassing 331.25 average ranking.
Now, in everyone's defense... these are only preseason rankings, and will change radically once the season kicks off. I get it. But right now, the OVC is not looking good. At all. And losing their top team (and potentially their No. 2 team) next year is not exactly going to leave them stronger.
Man, am I ever glad we got out when we did.
The Gamecocks are ranked 2nd in the ASUN at #136. Liberty takes the top spot at #97.
Because I really hate the OVC, and also because I'm kind of a spiteful jerk, I decided to see how the ASUN stacks up against the vaulted "BASKETBALL CONFERENCE" we used to call home. I also included our region's other two "hoops-centric" mid-major conferences, the SoCon and SBC. (I did not include CUSA, but probably should have. Maybe later, when I have more time to waste. Don't have any this morning.)
Also, these rankings are all for THIS season. I'm not looking (yet) at how things look after realignment shuffles everything. Again... time.
OK, so after crunching way too many numbers, here's a summary of my findings:
The average KenPom ranking of all four conferences is 221.3. We shall refer to this as the suck line. You want to be ranked above this line.
First, let's look at conference averages:
The SoCon takes the top spot at 191.60. Not a big surprise, as the conference has actually put legitimate pressure on its members to support their hoops programs in an effort to raise its stature beyond that of a one-bid league. Of the SoCon's 10 members, 60% are above the suck line. Their top 4 teams have an impressive average of 135.5, and their bottom 4 are a respectable 258.25. Want to know why Chatty is reluctant to leave? Here's your answer.
Next up is the Sun Belt. Their conference average is 214.08. Like the SoCon, the SBC office has pressured its teams to improve their basketball, so this ranking is probably a little disappointing, but it's still not bad for a mid-major conference. Of the Belt's 6 teams, exactly half are above the suck line. Their top 4 teams are a solid 150.5. Their lower 4 are the problem, coming in at an unimpressive 272.5. It's worth noting that if top-ranked Ga State (#103) moves to a new conference, the SoCon's dreams of basketball respectability will take a serious hit. Their next highest ranked team is Texas State, at #152.
The ASUN, which, if you believe the hype, was supposedly a step down from the mighty OVC in basketball, is close behind the SBC (but just below the suck line) at 224.08. Fully SEVEN of the league's 12 teams are above the suck line, an impressive 58.33%. The ASUN's top 4 teams (the aforementioned Liberty and JSU, plus Bellarmine and Stetson) are virtually tied with the Sun Belt's top 4, at 150.75. The bottom four let us down, though, with a terrible 301.5 average ranking. Step it up, guys.
Now we come to the meat of the discussion... the basketball powerhouse conference we left for our current digs... the one... the only... Ohio Valley Conference. Even with Belmont (#77) and Murray (#128) leading the way, the OVC's conference average is well behind the others at 256.3. Only THREE teams out of 10 in the conference are above the suck line. (Congrats to Morehead for not sucking.) For those of you bad at math, that means 70% of the OVC's members are below the suck line. The top 4 have an average of only 158.5, dragged down by No. 4 SEMO and their terrible #268 ranking. As you can imagine, the OVC's bottom four don't help the conference's image at all, coming in with an embarrassing 331.25 average ranking.
Now, in everyone's defense... these are only preseason rankings, and will change radically once the season kicks off. I get it. But right now, the OVC is not looking good. At all. And losing their top team (and potentially their No. 2 team) next year is not exactly going to leave them stronger.
Man, am I ever glad we got out when we did.
