Wisconsin gets top-50 status in preseason KenPom rankings

The Badgers are ranked higher than seven of their Big Ten foes.

Mar 14, 2024; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Nolan Winter (31) celebrates his basket against the Maryland Terrapins during the first half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball teams opens the 2024-25 season in exactly three weeks when they host Holy Cross at the Kohl Center in Madison. While preseason expectations aren't as high as they have been in recent years, the new-look Badgers certainly have no shortage of bulletin-board material to motivate them.

After being picked to finished 12th in the Big Ten preseason media poll, Wisconsin now finds itself 46th in the KenPom rankings that were released to the public on Sunday night. While 46th isn't half bad, it does leave the Badgers behind 10 of their BIg Ten counterparts, including two of the newcomers, UCLA and Oregon.

The 10 Big Ten teams ranked higher than Wisconsin in KenPom: Purdue (10), Illinois (23), UCLA (26), Oregon (29), Ohio State (31), Iowa (33), Michigan State (35), Michigan (36), Maryland (37) and Indiana (39).

The seven Big Ten teams ranked lower than Wisconsin: Northwestern (50), Nebraska (56), USC (57), Minnesota (59), Penn State (61), Rutgers (63) and Washington (75).

The main reason expectations aren't as high this season is due to so many unknowns. Who will handle the scoring load after Chucky Hepburn and AJ Storr left for Louisville and Kansas, respectively? How dynamic can freshman point guard Daniel Freitag be? Will Nolan Winter be the next young forward to take the leap like Tyler Wahl and Nathan Reuvers in years past?

Those questions will start to get answers when in the Red vs. White scrimmage on Oct. 20, and then again in an Oct. 30 exhibition against UW-River Falls.