KenPom releases preseason rankings
MBB: Murray State has been picked second-best in the Missouri Valley
For basketball junkies, the annual KenPom.com release of preseason rankings is like ordering French fries from your favorite fast food establishment, and you find an onion ring in the bag — an unexpected and delightful little treat.
Ken Pomeroy’s site is nothing short of a buffet of basketball minutiae that helps put into context a team’s resume and standing among their peers. KenPom’s preseason methodology is one part projection, and one part historical bias. Teams will get some benefit of the doubt for what they have done in the past, and that will certainly provide an October boost to some schools that will ultimately prove they didn’t deserve it. In the end, these numbers are a starting point, but they will quickly evolve once the season begins three weeks from tonight.
As for the Missouri Valley Conference, here’s how KenPom has them ranked nationally heading into the 2024-25 season:
#93 Bradley
#112 Murray State
#115 Northern Iowa
#133 Drake
#147 Southern Illinois
#160 Indiana State
#170 Belmont
#195 Illinois State
#204 Evansville
#218 Valparaiso
#219 Missouri State
#220 UIC
Here are where Murray State’s Division I non-conference opponents are nationally in the KenPom preseason rankings:
at #38 Pittsburgh
at #185 Middle Tennessee
vs. #362 Maryland Eastern Shore
vs. #153 Utah Valley
vs. #150 UT Arlington (in Jacksonville)
vs. #329 Southeast Missouri State
at #132 Western Kentucky
vs. #56 Nebraska (at Diamond Head Classic)
vs. #128 Charlotte or #198 Hawai’i (at Diamond Head Classic)
vs. #79 Loyola-Chicago/#136 Charleston/#144 Oregon State/#173 Oakland (at Diamond Head Classic)
In the game-by-game projections, KenPom has the Racers finishing 21-8 overall (there are no projections yet for the second or third Diamond Head games since the opponents are unknown), and 15-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Those projections will also continue to evolve as the season progresses.
KenPom currently has the Missouri Valley ranked as the 11th best conference in the country. Last season, the Valley finished the year #10.
Yes!!!! GO RACERS!!🏇🏇🏇❤️