If you follow me on Twitter it’s probably not a secret that I am a little obsessed with KenPom. KenPom ranks every team in college basketball based on their offensive and defensive efficiencies weighted against every other team in college basketball. Because of this, KenPom is a good way to see a pretty accurate ranking of where each college basketball team stands in any given year and any given game.
I decided to go back and look at the KenPom ranking for each SEC team in each of their games over the last decade. This allowed me to see which teams improved throughout the year, bounced between surpassing or falling below expectations, or just fell throughout the year. I’ve also included the range that each team stayed in throughout the year as well as their average ranking if you wish to see how a team did throughout a full season.
Some teams also have impressive rankings throughout the entire decade, like Florida and Kentucky, where they managed to be ranked in the top-50 of KenPom for almost every game over the last ten seasons.
For each complete chart of the SEC team’s KenPom rankings, I’ve shown which games a team is above or below their preseason ranking with different shades of green and red respectively.
Alabama
Over the last decade, Alabama has improved from their preseason KenPom ranking to their final KenPom ranking in five out of ten seasons. The biggest improvement for the Crimson Tide was in 2017 when they started as the 73rd ranked team and finished the season ranked 56th. The worst season in regards to preseason expectations was 2014 when Alabama started the season ranked 33rd and finished the season 53 spots lower at 86th overall.
Alabama managed to be ranked in the top-100 of KenPom for 325 of their 339 games this decade and was in the top-50 for 130 of those games. The Crimson Tide’s highest ranking this decade was when they ranked 10th overall in the seventh game of the 2012 season. Their lowest ranking occurred when they were ranked 122nd overall in the 15th game of the 2016 season.
Arkansas
Arkansas has finished with a final KenPom ranking higher than their preseason ranking in seven out of the ten seasons over the last decade. The Razorbacks improved the most in the 2014 season when they started the year ranked 118th overall and finished as high as the 44th best team in the KenPom rankings. Their worst drop was in the 2012 season where they started at 87th overall and wound up as low as 127th in the final KenPom standings.
Throughout the decade, Arkansas was ranked in the top-100 of KenPom for 312 of their 334 games including 148 games in the top-50. The Razorbacks reached as high as 21st overall in the sixth game of the 2020 season and bottomed out at 127th overall in the final rankings of the 2012 season.
Auburn
In the last ten years, Auburn has finished just four of their seasons ranked higher than their preseason KenPom ranking. The Tigers’ biggest improvement came in the 2017 season where they started the year ranked 153rd overall and climbed to 82nd in the final rankings. The worst year for Auburn was when the Tigers started the season ranked 117th and dropped 117 spots to end the year as the 234th best team in the final KenPom rankings.
The Tigers were ranked in the top-100 of KenPom for just 126 of their 327 games in the last decade, but of those 126 games, Auburn managed to be in the top-50 for 104 of them. Auburn’s highest KenPom ranking was when they were ranked 8th overall multiple times in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. The worst ranking for the Tigers was 267th overall in the 21st game of the 2011 season.
Florida
The Gators have only improved their ranking from preseason to end-of-year just four times, but that’s partly because Florida has not started nine of the last ten years in the top-20 at the beginning of the year. The biggest improvement for Florida was when they started the 2017 season ranked 17th overall and climbed to 5th overall at the end of the year. The furthest drop for the Gators took place in 2015 where they fell from 7th in the preseason to 34th overall in the final KenPom rankings.
Florida went the entire 2013 and 2017 seasons without ever dropping below their preseason KenPom ranking.
Over the last decade, Florida spent every single game one of their 356 games ranked in the top-50 of KenPom. The Gators were the top-ranked KenPom team in 28 total games across the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Florida was only ranked as low as 49th once in the 29th game of the 2015 season.
Georgia
The Georiga Bulldogs have improved from their preseason to final KenPom ranking just three times over the last decade. Their best improvement came in the 2014 season where they started the year 122nd overall in the preseason rankings and ended the year 78th overall. Georgia’s worst drop was in the 2012 season where they started as high as 59th overall and dropped to 112th overall by the end of the year.
In the last ten years, Georgia managed to rank in the top-100 of KenPom in 230 of the 329 games but reached the top-50 in just 36 of those games. Their highest ranking was when they entered the 19th and 24th games of the 2015 season ranked 27th overall. The worst ranking came when Georgia was 180th overall entering the 16th game of the 2013 season.
Kentucky
Mostly due to high expectations every year, Kentucky only improved on their preseason ranking two seasons in the last decade with the Wildcats starting and finishing the 2012 season ranked as the top KenPom team. The best change between preseason and final KenPom ranking came in the 2011 season when Kentucky started the season ranked 16th overall and finished the year seventh in the final rankings. The Wildcat’s worst drop was in the 2013 season where they came off of a National Championship ranked first overall in KenPom but managed to end the year all the way down at 55th overall.
Like Florida, Kentucky has spent plenty of time near the top of the KenPom rankings. In fact, over the last decade, Kentucky has never fallen outside of the top-100 in all 369 of their games and was the top-ranked team going into 64 of those games. Kentucky was ranked number one multiple times throughout the 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2017 seasons while also starting the 2013 season in the top spot. The Wildcats’ worst KenPom ranking came when they were they were ranked 55th at the end of the 2013 season.
LSU
LSU has managed to finish seven out the last ten seasons ranked higher in the final KenPom rankings than they ranked at the beginning of the year. The Tigers’ largest jump came in 2012 when they started the season ranked 152nd overall and ended the year 98th overall. The biggest fall, which is also the biggest fall for all of the SEC, was in 2011 when LSU came into the season as the 82nd ranked team and ended the year 150 spots lower at 232nd overall in the final KenPom rankings.
The Tigers have been ranked in the top-100 for 247 out of 326 games in the past decade, but spent just 91 of those games in the top-50. LSU had their best KenPom ranking in the past decade when they were 17th overall entering the 31st and 32nd games in the 2019 season. The lowest LSU has been was when they were ranked 232nd in the 2011 final KenPom rankings.
Mississippi State
In the last decade, Mississippi State has improved from their preseason KenPom ranking to final KenPom ranking six times including each of the last five years. Their biggest jump came in 2016 when the Bulldogs started the year 110th overall in the preseason ranking and finished the year ranked 78th overall. Mississippi State’s largest fall came in 2014 where they started at 117th and dropped to 205th in the final KenPom rankings.
Mississippi State ranked in the top-100 of KenPom in 174 of their 326 games over the last decade and were in the top-50 for 52 games in that same period. The Bulldogs highest ranking came in the second, 11th, 12th, and 14th games of the 2019 season where they ranked 19th overall. The lowest KenPom ranking for Mississippi State was 277th in the 28th game of the 2013 season.
The Bulldogs 277th overall ranking in the 2013 season is the lowest KenPom ranking for any SEC team in the last decade.
Missouri
Missouri managed to improve their KenPom ranking from the preseason to final standings in half of the seasons over the last decade. The Tigers’ largest improvement came in the 2018 season where they started the year 81st overall and wound up as high as 40th overall in the final KenPom rankings. The biggest drop was significant as Missouri fell from 98th overall at the beginning of the 2015 season to 192nd overall at the end of the year.
The Tigers, with a much better start to the decade, managed to be in the top-100 of KenPom for 223 out of their 329 games in the last decade with 152 of those games being in the top-50. The best ranking for Missouri came when they were 6th overall in the 12th game of the 2012 season. At their worst, Missouri was ranked as low as 212th in the 28th game of the 2015 season.
Ole Miss
The Rebels have improved from their preseason KenPom ranking in four of the last ten years. Their largest increase came in 2019 when Ole Miss ranked 97th at the beginning of the year and finished 50th overall in the final KenPom rankings. The biggest drop took place in 2018 where they fell from 52nd overall at the beginning of the year to 108th overall in the last rankings of the year.
Ole Miss has managed to stay in the top-100 of the KenPom rankings for 303 of their 336 games in the past decade but have only been in the top-50 for 74 of those. The Rebels’ highest ranking occurred when they were 19th overall entering the 9th game of the 2013 season. Their worst ranking in the last decade was 129th in the 16th game of the 2012 season.
South Carolina
In the last decade, South Carolin has improved from their preseason KenPom ranking to final KenPom ranking in just four seasons including a one-spot improvement in the 2020 season. The Gamecocks’ largest jump came in 2017 when they started the year 62nd overall and finished the season ranked 24th overall after making the Final Four. Their worst drop was in 2012 when they started the year 102nd overall and wound up as low as 164th overall at the end of the season.
South Carolina was in the top-100 of KenPom for 202 of their 327 games in the last decade and was ranked in the top-50 for 81 games in the same timeframe. The Gamecocks’ highest KenPom ranking came when they were 19th overall in the 15th and 16th games of the 2016 season. The worst ranking for South Carolina was 219th overall in the 15th game of the 2013 season.
Tennessee
Tennessee improved on their preseason KenPom ranking in five of their ten seasons over the last decade. Their largest increase from preseason to final ranking came in 2012 when they started the year ranked 108th overall and were 63rd in the final KenPom rankings. The Volunteers fell the most in the 2020 season where they started at 20th overall and ended the year 68th overall.
The Tennessee Volunteers have been ranked in the top-100 of KenPom for 305 of their 339 games in the last decade with 158 games where they ranked in the top-50. Tennessee reached their highest ranking when they were 5th overall nine times during the 2019 season. The lowest ranking for the Volunteers came in the 2012 season when they entered the 12th game of the year ranked 127th in KenPom.
Texas A&M
The Aggies have finished just three of the last ten seasons ranked higher in the final KenPom rankings than they were in the preseason. Texas A&M saw their biggest improvement in the 2016 season where they started the year 39th overall and climbed to 18t overall in the final KenPom rankings. Their worst drop was in the 2012 season where they started as high as 31st overall but finished the year at 122nd overall.
Texas A&M has been in the top-100 of the KenPom rankings for 238 games out of 330 total games played in the last decade and have been in the top-50 for 139 of those. The Aggies highest ranking in the last decade was 4th overall in the 11th game of the 2018 season. Their worst ranking came just two years later when they were 17th overall in the 21st game of the 2020 season.
Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt has improved their KenPom ranking from preseason to end-of-year in just three seasons over the last decade. The Commodores best jump camp in 2015 when they started the year 90th overall and then improved 53 spots to finish the season ranked 37th overall. Their worst drop occurred in 2019 when they started 68th overall and fell to 155th overall by the end of the season.
In the last decade, Vanderbilt has been ranked in the top-100 of KenPom for 247 out of 333 total games and ranked in the top-50 for 119 of those. Their highest ranking in that timeframe was ninth at the beginning of the 2012 season. Vanderbilt’s worst ranking came in 2013 when they fell to as low as 166th overall in the 15th and 16th games of the season.
