Michigan Basketball Passes Michigan State In KenPom Rankings

On Monday, even without head coach Juwan Howard, Michigan basketball continued its hot start to the 2023 season with an impressive road win over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden. The win boosted the Wolverines to 3-0 on the season — all of which coming in dominant blowout fashion — heading into Friday’s game against Long Beach State. In addition to keeping their record perfect, the Wolverines did something perhaps even more impressive: they passed Michigan State and others in the newest Pomeroy (KenPom) rankings, coming in at No. 19 nationally and No. 2 in the Big Ten Conference.

Michigan Basketball Passes Michigan State In KenPom Rankings

It’s early in the season, and at the end of the day, November basketball is not the end-all-be-all for anyone in college hoops. That said, Michigan basketball and Phil Martelli are on the rise right now after an impressive 89-73 win over St. John’s on Monday night.

As of the latest AP college basketball rankings, the Wolverines are still unranked despite their hot start to the 2023-24 season. With that said, the KenPom rankings — a forward-thinking and predictive model that is designed to give insight into a team’s current level of play — have boosted Michigan basketball into the top 20 after Monday’s win.

In fact, Michigan’s current position in the KenPom rankings — which pins the Wolverines at No. 19 nationally — only has the Wolverines ranked below one Big Ten team: Purdue. To put that in perspective, the Boilermakers are ranked No. 1 in KenPom and No. 2 in the Week 2 AP poll.

Additionally, with Michigan State hoops off to a 1-2 start — including losses to Duke and James Madison — the Spartans are falling in all the latest polls, including KenPom, which lists the Spartans at No. 33 in the country.

Rick Pitino credits Michigan after Monday’s win

“All the credit goes to (Michigan basketball). We knew they were one of the best shooting teams in the country,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said after Monday’s game. “What we didn’t expect was to get dominated by their point guard (Dug McDaniel) the way he dominated us tonight. That’s a credit to him — he’s a terrific little player. Their backcourt dominated our backcourt. They played intelligent basketball.”

Non-conference games to keep an eye on

After a disappointing end to last season, the Wolverines are on the rise right now and are turning heads despite the season being so young. Michigan has a trio of important upcoming non-conference games before starting Big Ten play in December — Long Beach State, Memphis, and Oregon. On December 5th, Michigan basketball will face Indiana to start conference games, though matchups against Eastern Michigan, Florida, and McNeese State are also upcoming in December to finish off this year’s non-conference games.

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