Duke, UConn and the biggest surprises in KenPom’s college basketball preseason rankings

KenPom’s preseason college basketball rankings just dropped, a signal that college basketball is just about to start.

The godfather of college basketball analytics, KenPom, has widely been the most used analytical site in college basketball. There have been some other great ones pop up, but KenPom’s rankings hold plenty of weight in evaluating teams, including being used as one component of the selection process for March Madness.

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As Ken Pomeroy, founder of KenPom, wrote in his most recent article, preseason rankings are more difficult than ever with so many questions for eligibility. Pomeroy wrote that for this version of the rankings, if a team site has a player lsited on the official team roster, then their potential contributions would be counted for the rankings.

Best of the best according to KenPom

Duke Blue Devils guard Cayden Boozer | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Duke Blue Devils take the top spot in the preseason rankings, with Florida not far behind in second. Houston comes in at a slightly distant third, forming a clear top tier in the rankings. Most preseason predictions will have Duke and Florida number one and two in some order, but Houston being third will end up being a bit against consensus.

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Below is the complete top ten.

Most of the teams listed in the top 10 would be agreeable with the general consensus. Iowa State at sixth overall is the biggest surprise of the group as not many people or sites believe the offense will be as good as KenPom lists them as.

Texas slots in at 10 in the rankings, and they’ll be one of the more polarizing preseason teams. On paper, there’s plenty of talent for the Sean Miller-led team. However, there’s also going to be a big reliance on talented freshman prospects in the era of college basketball getting as old as ever.

Teams ranked surprisingly high by KenPom

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As is going to be the case with any preseason predictions, there…

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Publish date : 2026-10-12 17:22:00

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