Virginia Basketball Ranked 5th in Preseason Kenpom Ratings

KenPom.com has the Cavaliers as the top-rated team in the ACC for the 2022-2023 basketball season

Matt Newton | Oct 17, 2022

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Virginia Cavaliers

KenPom.com, widely considered the gold standard for advanced efficiency statistics in college basketball, released its preseason rankings for the 2022-2023 men's basketball season this weekend. After missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 last season, KenPom expects the Virginia Cavaliers to be among the best teams in the nation this season.

UVA came in at No. 5 out of 363 Division 1 men's basketball teams in KenPom's preseason ratings for adjusted efficiency margin, a projection metric based on the difference between a team's adjusted offensive efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions) and adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions). KenPom projects Virginia to have an adjusted offensive efficiency of 111.5 points per 100 possessions, which ranks 14th, and an adjusted defensive efficiency of 85.4 points allowed per 100 possessions, which ranks 4th.

UVA's adjusted efficiency margin of +25.73 ranks 5th overall.

KenPom's top five college basketball teams:

Kentucky (+29.77)
Texas (+28.40)
Gonzaga (+27.68)
Tennessee (+27.10)
Virginia (+25.73)

Virginia is also the highest-ranked ACC team in the preseason KenPom rankings:

Virginia (5th)
North Carolina (9th)
Duke (15th)
Virginia Tech (21st)
Miami (42nd)
Notre Dame (43rd)
Syracuse (54th)
Clemson (60th)
Florida State (65th)
Boston College (74th)
Wake Forest (80th)
NC State (81st)
Pittsburgh (84th)
Louisville (91st)
Georgia Tech (117th)

Of course, KenPom predicts Virginia to play at the slowest pace in all of college basketball with an adjusted tempo of 65.1 possessions per 40 minutes, which ranks 363rd.

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Published Oct 17, 2022

MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.