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NCAA Basketball: 5 biggest winners from 2021-22 preseason KenPom rankings

By Benjamin Zacher

DURHAM, NC - OCTOBER 30: Paolo Banchero #5 of the Duke Blue Devils looks on during their game against the Winston-Salem State Rams at Cameron Indoor Stadium on October 30, 2021 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 106-38. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NC - OCTOBER 30: Paolo Banchero #5 of the Duke Blue Devils looks on during their game against the Winston-Salem State Rams at Cameron Indoor Stadium on October 30, 2021 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 106-38. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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With the 2021-22 NCAA Basketball season right around the corner, preseason rankings and projections are back at the forefront of college basketball – and the latest KenPom Basketball ratings are no objection.  Unlike other mainstream rankings that focus on the nation’s top 25 teams, however, the Pomeroy ratings analytically slot all 358 programs and serve as a premiere, detailed method of visualizing where low- and mid-major squads compare to high-majors.

For many non-power conference teams, KenPom is a way to gauge where they may rank against other teams like them or above them – and, for high-major teams, vice versa.  For the most part, a handful of mid-majors typically succeed each season – and last year was no exception, considering Gonzaga, Loyola Chicago, BYU, San Diego State, Utah State, and VCU all ranked among the top 50 teams in the nation.

Few versions of the rankings are as valuable as the preseason ratings, particularly when compared to the final rankings from the season prior.  It, much like an end-of-year AP Poll and subsequent preseason poll, showcases just how high or low a team has improved or fallen over the course of the offseason.

This year’s preseason KenPom rankings are no different, and all but six teams – five of whom remained in the same spot, and the sixth being the St. Thomas Tommies, who are entering their first year as a Div. I institution – have moved either up or down in the rankings.  Of the 352 remaining teams, 171 of those jumped up in the ratings – some by single-digits, and others by double-digits.

This article will highlight the most significant winners of the preseason KenPom rankings, as opposed to the biggest losers – or, essentially, which team or collection of programs earned the most rewarding jump in the ratings, compared to last year’s end-of-season rankings.  Most notably is the optimism given to many high-majors that struggled mightily last season, but a number of mid-majors also received noteworthy recognition.

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