Preseason A10 Rankings from Erik Haslam (equivalent to KenPom). 

The rankings are based on team performance over the last three seasons, 2022-23 efficiency ratings, returning production, incoming transfers, frosh recruiting rankings, and head coaching changes.

As we all know, GW is likely too much of an unknown to be fairly ranked using pre-season statistical models.  One thing is for certain though, I think George Mason is consistently ranked too high in most of these pre-season rankings.  The team is basically brand new plus a first time HC.

61. Dayton
82. VCU
93. Duquesne
95. St. Bonaventure
98. St. Joe's
108. Loyola Chicago
109. SLU
115. Richmond
123. George Mason
148. Fordham
162. Davidson
188. umAss
194. GW
221. Rhody
225. La Salle

Last edited by GW0509 (10/02/2023 12:09 pm)

Busting Brackets with their A-10 preview: Atlantic 10 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season (bustingbrackets.com)

GW picked 9th.
 

Last edited by GW0509 (10/11/2023 9:39 am)

2024 KenPom just dropped.  Starting the season at #217.  Exactly where we finished in 2023.

GW's Offense ranked 152
GW's Defense ranked 297

Last edited by GW0509 (10/15/2023 4:59 pm)

MG14 wrote:

GW0509 wrote:

2024 KenPom just dropped.  Starting the season at #217.  Exactly where we finished in 2023.

GW's Offense ranked 152
GW's Defense ranked 297

Also the lowest Kenpom rating in the A10

KenPom has us as a 12 point favorite vs Stone Hill, so let’s destroy them and start shooting up those ranks.

Top 200 seems reasonable?  To say the least.

Sorry to offend the KenPom worshipers but these rankings resemble a farce.  Loyola begins the season at #75?  Did many of those Final 4 players somehow discover some eligibility they hadn't before realized?  St. Joe's is 113 spots higher than GW?  SLU loses virtually everyone but Jimerson and they are #115, compared to GW at #217?  Richmond, who virtually everyone acknowledges is in for a down year, starts the year at 126?  Anyone convinced we're really going to be worse than Rhode Island, whose program appears to be a trainwreck these days?

La Salle gets a better ranking because a lot of their players are coming back.  But Loyola gets an even much higher ranking because a a lot of their players are not coming back?  And GW gets penalized because a lot of players are not coming back, despite both a well-regarded incoming freshman class plus a number of notable incoming transfers?

Perhaps FQ or some other advanced stats person can explain the logic to me?  The good news, I suppose, is that GW once again appears destined to exceed expectations.  To the extent that #217 is a motivating factor, better to be the hunter than the hunted.
 

KenPom preseason ratings are pretty useless. As others have described, they weigh heavily recent few years and then try to make some guesses based on comings and goings, with most of our guys not being too 50 or transfers so they just get coded as replacement level. 

I think one thing that’s held us back is our depth. I remember seeing something that our starting lineup last year was top 100ish (or 125ish) in efficiency, but when any of those guys were out, we had a massive drop off in efficiency.  Not surprisingly, we had trouble blowing teams out and sometimes got smoked ourself when things weren’t clicking (games like UCSD just kill your KenPom). 

Hopefully this year, the depth improves our D and we make a leap. 

Ultimately, though, the way you move up in KenPom is by exceeding the predictions.  That’s why I said it starts with beating Spring Hill by more than 12. With this weak OOC schedule, winning isn’t enough for the computers - we need to throttle teams.

jf wrote:

That is a reasoned analysis from FQ, of course.
But what does it say about the rankings and the sports decency that many at least grew up
with, that you have to throttle lesser teams to improve your rankings?
   In addition to the fact that good teams find a way to win on a bad day, what does it say
about already missing intercollegiate sports values?

I too find it unfortunate that the NCAA selection committee seems so enamored with efficiency.  Frankly I don't think Auburn whooping on Florida A&M proves much if anything about Auburn. 

I wish they'd find a way to heavily weight big games and especially big games played on campus. I don't think the quad system goes far enough to discount neutral site games. I'm tired of all these "classics" and "showcases" built for TV.  Totally sucks the fun out of the sport. Outside of the Maui Invitational and the Battle for Atlantis, I'd get rid of all the MTEs if I could.  Another 1-2 on campus games would be far more interesting.

gwstudent2024 wrote:

We're in the process of putting together our season preview content at WRGW. We've got a bunch of ideas already but is there anything in particular you guys want to see? It could be written content for the blog, audio content for podcast and live radio, or social media content. Whatever you think would be interesting, let me know!

Look forward to your replies. I think some get to know stories about the newcomers are always great to read/hear

Topics that interest me:

1) Which players have strong on-court connections with other teammates?  Teammates who read one another well.  Something to watch for on the court.

2) A bit about staff responsibilities.  How does recruiting get divided? Are coaches assigned to offense, defense, transition, etc.?  Or, assigned to position groups?

3) While student attendance increased last season, I don't believe the same could be said for paying customers.  Is more being done to help fill up the Smith Center?  If not, is this because of funds being diverted elsewhere (new practice facility, charters) or is there a sense that the team simply has to be more successful on the court before attendance can realistically increase?
 

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

For players:  why GW (from a basketball rather than an athletic standpoint)
For staff:  What changes in the on court play should we be looking for, both offensively and defensively.
             

The why GW conversation is very interesting to me. Years ago, we could talk almost exclusively about the city, about the development, about the school, etc. Now it's a deeper question of how does GW compete in the landscape? Feels like a lot of this is chutes and ladders: how is GW the right stop when you're falling out of the Power 5, what makes it a good option when you're coming out of a low-major? Do players think they can make decent money from FOG and direct deals with corporate deals? Feels like there's a lot of speculation on all these processes, but any sunlight y'all can shine on that is interesting to me.