NCAA Basketball: Final 2022-23 mid-major power rankings heading into postseason
By Ryan Kay
![Florida Atlantic Owls guard Alijah Martin (15) does the Gator Chomp after in the second half after defeating the Gators. The Florida Gators menÕs basketball team hosted the Florida Atlantic Owls at Billy Donovan Court at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL on Monday, November 14, 2022. Florida Atlantic defeated Florida 76-74. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]Gai Ufbasketballfau](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F93c246987712840be555b192871cc8313e82565e9149eb9239d56032b35c1134.jpg "Florida Atlantic Owls guard Alijah Martin (15) does the Gator Chomp after in the second half after defeating the Gators. The Florida Gators menÕs basketball team hosted the Florida Atlantic Owls at Billy Donovan Court at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL on Monday, November 14, 2022. Florida Atlantic defeated Florida 76-74. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]Gai Ufbasketballfau")
These four teams look to make some noise in post-season tournament play as they are all playing great basketball heading into mid-March.
8. team. 2250. . 20-5. Previous: 4th. Golden Flashes
No. 8 – Kent State
Conference: MAC
Best Wins: Portland (77-65), South Dakota State (83-68), at Cleveland State (67-58), New Mexico State (73-63), at UTEP (47-46), at Northern Kentucky (79-57), Toledo (75-63), at Ohio (70-65), Ball State (86-65), Buffalo (74-68), Akron (89-84), at Buffalo (72-65), Northern Illinois (76-57), and Ohio (82-75)
Number of wins over a power five conference teams: Zero
Notable Defeats: At Charleston (72-74), at Houston (44-49), at Gonzaga (66-73), at Ball State (70-82), at Akron (55-67), and at Northern Illinois (76-86)
Confernce Record: 15-3
RPI Ranking: 43
KenPom Ranking: 79
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 75
Sagarin Ranking: 77
NET Ranking: 66
Quadrant 1 Wins: Zero
Quadrant 2 Victories: One
Quadrant 3 Wins: Ten
Why is Kent State ranked in the top ten of these power rankings: Kent State did not lose on their home court this season and has won eight of their last nine games. Even in three losses, the Golden Flashes lost on the road to Charleston by two, Houston by five, and Gonzaga by seven in non-conference play. Kent State at times, dominated in conference play losing only three games with all of them being on the road. The Golden Eagles have proven they can win low-scoring games with their defense and high-scoring games with their offense as well.
522. . 24-3. Previous: 9th. Cougars . 7. team
No. 7 – Charleston
Conference: Colonial
Best Wins: Virginia Tech (77-75), Kent State (74-72), Colorado State (74-64), Richmond (92-90), Davidson (89-66), Chattanooga (85-78), Old Dominion (75-60), Stetson (65-60), at Towson (76-74), at UNC Wilmington (71-69), Towson (83-75), UNC Wilmington (93-61), Towson (77-72), and UNC Wilmington (63-58)
Number of wins over a power five conference teams: One
Notable Defeats: At North Carolina (86-102), Hofstra (81-85), and at Drexel (69-70)
Conference Record: 16-2
RPI Ranking: 34
KenPom Ranking: 72
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 63
Sagarin Ranking: 72
NET Ranking: 50
Quadrant 1 Wins: Zero
Quadrant 2 Victories: Two
Quadrant 3 Wins: Twelve
Why is Charleston ranked in the top ten of these power rankings: The Cougars have won their last ten games and only lost three games this season. Charleston won their conference tournament receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and was with Hofstra conference regular season champions as well. They also have impressive non-conference victories against Virginia Tech, Kent State, and Colorado State.
Previous: 12th. Golden Eagles . 6. team. 2386. . 23-4
No. 6 – Southern Miss
Conference: Sun Belt
Best Wins: At Vanderbilt (60-48), at Liberty (76-72), Purdue Fort Wayne (70-58), at Texas State (79-69), Louisana (82-71), at Troy (74-65), Texas State (67-58), James Madison (83-70), South Alabama (76-72), Appalachian State (76-70), Troy (64-60), and Montana (64-54),
Number of wins over a power five conference teams: One
Notable Defeats: At Northwestern State (82-84), at UNLV (63-74), South Alabama (61-78), at Old Dominion (64-69), at South Alabama (54-85), at Marshall (67-89), and at Louisana (61-75)
Conference Record: 14-4
RPI Ranking: 47
KenPom Ranking: 99
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 112
Sagarin Ranking: 128
NET Ranking: 87
Quadrant 1 Wins: One
Quadrant 2 Victories: One
Quadrant 3 Wins: Six
Why is Southern Mississippi ranked in the top ten of these power rankings: They won the regular season title by finishing in first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings, they also won against a power five conference opponent on the road, the Golden Eagles also have a road victory against a team ranked in the top 50 in the NET, all but one of their loses came on the road, and they prior to their conference tournament won 11 of their last 13 regular season games.
team. 2389. . 21-5. Previous: 6th. Mean Green . 5
No. 5 – North Texas
Conference: C-USA
Best Wins: Grand Canyon (60-58), San Jose State (69-54), Fresno State (61-52), UMass (62-44), Long Beach State (68-47), at Western Kentucky (70-66), at Middle Tennessee (56-51), Louisiana Tech (67-65), at UAB (63-52), at Louisana Tech (72-62), UAB (82-79), Charlotte (67-43), Middle Tennessee (64-50), Western Kentucky (67-33), and Louisana Tech (74-46)
Number of wins over a power five conference teams: Zero
Notable Defeats: At Saint Mary’s (33-63), Florida Atlantic (46-50), UNC Wilmington (51-55), at Charlotte (49-55), Rice (60-72), and at Florida Atlantic (62-66),
Conference Record: 16-4
RPI Ranking: 27
KenPom Ranking: 41
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 73
Sagarin Ranking: 59
NET Ranking: 36
Quadrant 1 Wins: One
Quadrant 2 Victories: Three
Quadrant 3 Wins: Eleven
Why is North Texas ranked in the top ten of these power rankings: North Texas has won 11 of their last 12 games. They play in a very competitive mid-major conference and would have won the regular season conference title but Flordia Atlantic had an amazing season that few expected. They have defeated UAB twice, Louisana Tech three times, and beat Middle Tennessee twice as well.
Even if the Mean Green doesn’t win their conference tournament, they are projected to make the NCAA Tournament due to their strength of schedule which is reflected in their high RPI ranking.