Gonzaga men's basketball No. 5 in KenPom preseason rankings

Among the many polls and rankings from college basketball media personnel and coaches, there are also ratings that rank the best teams in the country based on advanced metrics and formulas that often differ from expert opinion.

The first Ken Pomeroy ratings of the 2023-24 season are indicative of that notion, as the Gonzaga Bulldogs came in at No. 5 overall and No. 1 in the metrics' offensive efficiency scale. Purdue sits atop the ratings, with Kansas, Houston and UConn ahead of the Zags. Arizona, Baylor, Tennessee, Duke and Alabama round out the top 10.

The advanced metrics' ratings don't quite coincide with the national media's perception. The Associated Press preseason Top 25 had Michigan State, Marquette, Creighton and Florida Atlantic in the top 10, while Gonzaga, Arizona, Baylor and Alabama were ranked higher. There wasn't a bigger discrepancy in opposing perceptions than Florida Atlantic, which came in at No. 10 in the AP Top 25 and No. 37 in KenPom.

Saint Mary's, which was picked to finish first in the WCC by the coaches, is rated No. 38 by KenPom.

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On top of having the No. 1 offense, the Zags are No. 26 in adjusted defensive efficiency. Defense was an issue last season (73rd in that category) but KenPom believes Mark Few's team will improve on that end of the floor in 2023-24.

Referred to as KenPom, the advanced analytics website ranks all 363 Division-I men's college basketball teams based on numerous factors. It considers aspects such as a team's offensive and defensive efficiencies, tempo, luck and strength of schedule. While most rankings are designed to reflect a team's past performance, KenPom is designed to be purely predictive of how good a team can be on any given night.

KenPom is also a tool for determining seeding for the NCAA Tournament, along with the NCAA Evaluation Tool and ESPN's Basketball Power Index.

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