Before and After: Comparing Kenpom Rankings From Start to Finish For All 14 Big Ten Teams
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The 2023-24 college basketball season is in the books, and there was a lot of drama that played out out in the Big Ten this season. There was a lot of movement up and down by a handful of teams, and many were what we thought they were.
It's a good time to look at the preseason Kenpom.com computer rankings, and see who made the biggest moves.
Purdue, a preseason No. 1, was the highest ranked league team at the end, too, finishing No. 3. There's certainly no shame in that. They've been a consensus top-3 team all season with Houston and Connecticut.
The biggest movers up? That would be Fred Hoiberg's Nebraska Cornhuskers and Ben Johnson's Minnesota Golden Gophers. Minnesota was the lowest ranked Big Ten team at the start, checking in at No. 112. So, to be fair, they had more room to move, but they've done that, going up 37 spots to No. 75.
Nebraska went from No. 58 to No. 32 and earned a No. 3 seed and double bye in the Big Ten Tournament that starts Wednesday in Minneapolis. That, to me, is probably the best move up, with no disrespect intended to Johnson's Gophers. Illinois' move from No. 19 to No. 10 is also impressive because it's really hard to move a lot at the top of the rankings. They've had a good season.
The biggest loser? That's obvious, and we've seen the horror show play out all year long in Ann Arbor with Michigan. They dropped from No. 44 to No. 127, a whopping 83 spots. Michigan was 8-23 overall and 3-17 in the Big Ten and were a complete disaster.
The other big drops were from Rutgers (39), Indiana (37) and Maryland (36). Here's the complete list.
| Team | Preseason | Postseason | Move |
|---|---|---|---|
Purdue | 1 | 3 | Minus-2 |
Michigan State | 13 | 19 | Minus-6 |
Illinois | 19 | 10 | Plus-9 |
Wisconsin | 20 | 21 | Minus-1 |
Maryland | 22 | 58 | Minus-36 |
Ohio State | 35 | 49 | Minus-14 |
Northwestern | 40 | 42 | Minus-2 |
Michigan | 44 | 127 | Minus-83 |
Indiana | 49 | 86 | Minus-37 |
Iowa | 50 | 52 | Minus-2 |
Nebraska | 58 | 32 | Plus-26 |
Rutgers | 59 | 98 | Minus-39 |
Penn State | 85 | 77 | Plus-8 |
Minnesota | 112 | 75 | Plus-37 |
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