Stat Pack Week 1: A historic early national trend, West Virginia's defensive start

The 2026-27 college basketball season is underway, and a new article series is set to hit Basket Under Review: the Stat Pack, now weekly.

Providing statistical analysis of opening-round matchups for the NCAA Tournament has been one of my favorite pieces to write over the last few years, and while that piece isn’t going away, how about scratching the statistical itch each week instead of waiting all the way to March? The weekly Stat Pack won’t look at matchup trends like the NCAA Tournament version; instead, it will look at the past week (or more) of action to analyze potential trends for individual teams — or the country — as they happen.

With the first edition dropping only a couple of days into the season, sample sizes aren’t large enough for substantial or sweeping takeaways yet. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been statistical eye-openers early on. We’ve already seen 3-pointers launched at historic rates, a stifling defensive effort, and a starting lineup exceeding even the highest of expectations.

Let’s dive into the Week 1 Stat Pack.

1. Highest 3PA% through two days in KenPom history.

If the first two days of the college basketball season are any indication, we are headed toward a historic year for 3-point volume. With the occasional slight drop, the year-over-year full-season 3-point attempt rate chart has generally trended up throughout KenPom history. Last season’s 39.5% full-season rate, for instance, was the highest since the introduction of the 3-point line. Additionally, last season’s 39.6% rate through the first two days was the second-highest through two days since KenPom started tracking it in 1997.

Through the opening two days this season? 41.6%. And with 3PA% through two days finishing within 1.0% of the end-of-season 3PA% in every season since tracking began in 1997, college basketball will likely see a full-season 3PA% over 40% for the first time: