The annual silent drop of rankings on an unsuspecting Sunday has arrived here on the 12th of October, 2026.

Yes, of course, I am talking about the ever-popular Ken Pomeroy rankings. Better known as KenPom in basketball circles, these rankings have now been prevalent on official NCAA Selection Committee team sheets for the past handful of years. The easy-to-use website is perhaps just as popular now as the rankings themselves.

Mr. Pomeroy has continued to put more and more muscle into his preseason ranks. He has consciously built his model to place more weight on blue-chip freshmen, returning producers, and impact transfers, with a splash of coaching reputation.

Rankings Explained - Hear KenPom's most recent offseason thought process and full breakdown on the rankings here: https://kenpom.substack.com/p/some-dense-reading-about-preseason

In the current world of five-for-five courtroom madness, player acquisition in general, and the recent coaching carousel, there was a feverish rush to get a glimpse of these rankings.

Wait no more!

As an analyst who has great curiosity in all 32 conferences, let's first take a look at the conference rankings:

  • The SEC is back on top as we enter 2026-27 with a full two-point edge in the ratings over the Big 12. Notably, the Big 12 came in ahead of the B1G. The B1G has finished second in the past two years, behind the SEC.
  • The Big East has all 11 members in the Top 88. That floor starts at a desired level for the conference. The top six teams are Top 39 KenPom teams. If these numbers hold, the conference can optimistically reach seven or more bids. Non-conference wins will be critical for the middle- and bottom-of-the-pack teams.
Marquette is one of many Big East teams projected to improve in 2026-27.
  • Welcome back, PAC-12! You can see the perceived strength already. The league has seven of its nine members in the Top 100, and only Fresno State at 162 isn't sniffing the Top 100. This league likely won't have as many bids as the Big East, but the math can really benefit a strong league with a high floor and a low membership count (nine teams).
  • The A-10 and Mountain West will be fascinating. I'd project the A-10 to have a stronger chance for three bids. Both should expect two. The Mountain West middle of the pack is perplexing, with UC Davis, UTEP, San Jose State, Wyoming, Hawai'i, etc., much more financially committed. Will it translate to the court? We wait and see.
  • The American, WCC, and Missouri Valley all have hope to be deep. The AAC seems to have the best path to two bids. Wichita State (90th) is the near-unanimous pick, but KenPom favors Memphis (84th). South Florida at 94 is on their heels. The WCC has Saint Mary's (72nd) and Santa Clara (92nd) at the top, as we suspected. But their ratings would be far higher than a season ago, when both teams received at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Murray State (97th) leads a group of seven squads between 97 and 146 in the Valley. Surprisingly, Bradley is all the way down at 170. When was the last time Brian Wardle finished 8th? The answer is the COVID season of 2020-21 and his first year back in 2015-16. I think the Braves will outperform this.

Next, let's dive into the actual team rankings. Here is your Top 65:

  • Duke is ranked over Florida to begin the year. After seeing Duke for a second vs. Belmont last week, pretty easy to justify.
  • Houston is the clear #3 in the rankings, which quite interestingly gives the Cougars a 31.66 Rating as a starting point.
  • Many would have UConn, Michigan State, Illinois, and Arizona ahead of Houston in their preseason ranks, but not Pomeroy.
  • Iowa State is high at 6th overall. Tamin Lipsey factored in? You'd have to think so. You also can't ignore the Cyclones' three-year average of 8.67 final KenPom rank under T.J. Otzelberger, including finishing #7 last season.
  • Vanderbilt at 13th is likely a testament to re-signing Tyler Tanner. Let's not forget that Vandy finished 11th in these ranks at the end of the 2026 campaign.
  • Texas A&M finished 39th last year and has only cracked the KenPom Final Top 20 in three of the past 20 years. Nevertheless, they will begin this season at #19.
  • Defending National Champs, Michigan, will start at #28. Clearly, the KenPom machine was aware of Dusty May going to the NBA, and perhaps the ACL injury to Brandon McCoy. This is a pretty low starting point for the Champs, regardless.
  • Ole Miss begins the year at #38, which I found somewhat surprising due to the Rebels being ranked down at 58 in Torvik, and earlier in the offseason, they were placed in the 70s. The Rebels have been one of my personal dilemmas on how to forecast them for the coming year. This KenPom number may have made it even harder.
  • Minnesota is looking for its first dance ticket since 2019. Niko Medved is putting in work at his alma mater. KenPom has them at an impressive 42nd, ahead of Big Ten teams like Indiana, Iowa, and Maryland.
Is this the year Niko Medved earns some much-deserved airtime?
  • The highest-ranked non-power, non-Gonzaga team is Grand Canyon at 44th. The Lopes have a very deep squad and are poised to lead the new-look Mountain West.
  • DePaul is 56th. This would be a 20-year best for the program. A real financial commitment has clearly gone into place for the Blue Demons. Now it's time to win.
  • LSU comes in at 62nd; they are the most impossible team to place, which seems fair.
  • N.C. State rounds out the Top 65 at #65. Justin Gainey's squad is just three spots below Will Wade's LSU team. A lot of drama so far in this story, for very little separation.

FAN MATCH - Opening Night

As a traveling basketball analyst, Fan Match via KenPom.com is a must-read daily. For those less familiar, it is an estimated rating of how thrilling an upcoming game will be, based on each team's KenPom ranking.

Top matchups for Opening Night

Some real blockbusters, plus plenty of mid-major quality to get things rolling.

Top Offenses and Defenses

  • We have our Houston explanation here; the defense is expected to be far and away the best in the nation.
  • Duke, no surprise, a Top 3 offense and defense expectation is in place.
  • Texas A&M's Bucky Ball offense is expected to outperform Kentucky, Arizona, and many others. Now that is pretty intriguing.

Home Court Advantage Ranks

I love evaluating home court edges. West Virginia has topped this list before, and here they are again. If these ranks are new to you, I'd highlight elevation as a crucial factor for many of these advantages. Some venues don't offer much of an advantage at all, so it's important to keep this Top 35 list handy for proper forecasting.

Cheers to a new season!