11/19 KenPom rankings update
MBB: Murray State has their highest ranking of the season after Tuesday's win
After winning against Little Rock on Tuesday night, Murray State moved up six spots in the KenPom rankings overnight to #110, the highest point the Racers have been in KenPom so far this season.
With six games left in non-conference play, Murray State still has three opportunities to get KenPom Top 100 wins. Two of them will happen next week in the Cayman Islands, as they'll face #98 McNeese and #66 George Washington. The Racers will also play #78 Akron in December in Henderson, Nevada.
Northern Iowa dropped one spot to #97 after beating Northern Illinois last night. UNI and Belmont remain the only unbeaten teams in The Valley.
Evansville was the biggest mover in the wrong direction after dropping 14 spots with their 84-76 home loss to UT Arlington last night.
There are four games on the docket tonight featuring Valley teams. The best non-conference opponent is #177 Louisiana Tech who will visit Indiana State tonight.
After last night’s games, here are this morning’s updated KenPom rankings for the Missouri Valley Conference:
#97 Northern Iowa — Drops 1 spot after 70-57 home win over #304 Northern Illinois (Next: At #134 UC Irvine Saturday)
#103 Belmont — Up 1 spot (Next: Hosts #265 Lipscomb tonight)
#110 Murray State — Up 6 spots after 89-68 home win over #214 Little Rock tonight (Next: Neutral-site game vs. #149 Middle Tennessee Sunday)
#131 Bradley — No change (Next: Hosts #339 UMass Lowell tonight)
#133 Illinois State — Up 1 spot (Next: Hosts Non-D1 Rockford on Thursday)
#135 Southern Illinois — Down 2 spots (Next: Hosts #221 Delaware Sunday)
#138 Drake — Up 1 spot (Next: Friday vs. Non-D1 Buena Vista)
#139 UIC — Up 1 spot (Next: Neutral-site game vs. #87 High Point on Thursday)
#199 Indiana State — Down 2 spots (Next: Hosts #177 Louisiana Tech tonight)
#259 Valparaiso — Down 1 spot (Next: At #253 Cleveland State tonight)
#283 Evansville — Down 14 spots after 84-76 home loss to #157 UT Arlington (Next: Neutral-site vs. #136 Oregon State)
In the conference rankings, KenPom has the Missouri Valley Conference still listed as the 10th-best league in the country. Last season, only seven conferences received multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament. Here are the updated KenPom conference rankings:
SEC +19.05
Big Ten +18.70
Big 12 +17.01
ACC +15.41
Big East +14.00
Mountain West +6.78
Atlantic 10 +5.47
West Coast Conference +3.90
The American +3.21
Missouri Valley +1.03 (Up +0.06)
Conference USA -1.11
Mid-American Conference -3.02