Mizzou doesn’t crack KenPom’s top 50 heading into 2024-25 season

The NCAA men’s basketball executive doesn’t have high hopes for the Tigers this season.
Missouri head men's basketball coach Dennis Gates responds to a question during a press conference on April 26, 2024 inside Stephens Indoor Facility in Columbia, Mo.
Missouri head men's basketball coach Dennis Gates responds to a question during a press conference on April 26, 2024 inside Stephens Indoor Facility in Columbia, Mo. / Abigail Landwehr/Columbia Daily Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
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To say the Tigers aren’t expected to excel this season would be an understatement. Many fans and media believe they won’t be serious contenders this year, a prediction that stems from the winless conference season in 2023/24.

Ken Pomeroy is the latest to set low expectations for the Missouri Tigers in 2024. His website, KenPom, ranks Mizzou outside the top 50, leaving the team on the outside looking in.

That’s right, Mizzou fell short of the top 50 in Pomeroy’s preseason projections, as the model ranked them at No. 53 in the country.

Ken Pomeroy has been running his online blog for over 20 years, reflecting the growing reliance and trust in his work over time. His website provides basketball ratings, rankings, and statistics for every NCAA Division I men's basketball team, along with archives dating back to its debut in 2002. In addition to his work in basketball analytics, Pomeroy has served as an atmospheric science instructor at the University of Utah since 2012.

To further demonstrate his predictive accuracy, Pomeroy had UConn ranked No. 1 going into last season, with the team projected to finish with a 31-8 record. The Huskies exceeded expectations, finishing 37-3 overall, the best record in the NCAA, and securing their second consecutive national championship in April.

With that nearly spot-on prediction, along with many others, Pomeroy’s rankings are hard to dispute. This season, he projects Houston to finish as the No. 1 team in the NCAA, followed by Duke, Auburn, and others. Fifty-two teams are ranked before Mizzou finally appears, reflecting the lack of confidence even one of the most respected sources has in the Tigers this year.

Mizzou has a lot to prove in 2024, starting with a major showdown in Memphis on November 4.

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