Ram fans, do yourself a favor this season and secure a Kenpom.com subscription ASAP. Writers, coaches and stat junkies have been addicted to Ken Pomeroy’s D1 hoops info for years. His stats give coaches the tempo-free numbers they crave while also making media hacks like myself sound like we know what the heck we’re talking about.
Well KenPom’s computers have recently spit out their latest preseason rankings and season projects. For a complete rundown of what exactly goes into those numbers, read this: http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/entry/pre_season_ratings_2014
KenPom’s preseason rankings have the Rams beginning the season as his No.17 team in the country. With that, the Rams check in as his No.1 Atlantic 10 team with a projected conference record of 14-4 not to mention an overall projected record of 22-8 during the regular season (although the Rams will add a game against either Michigan or Oregon at the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, both preseason top-100 squads).
With that said, Pomeroy’s computers have the Rams currently favored to win all but two of their regular season games: v Villanova in Brooklyn (42% chance of victory with a projected final score of 75-73) in the Legends Classic and at Cincinnati (50% chance in a projected 70-69 loss).
The Rams are currently a 60%+ favorite to win in all but six games: the two aforementioned projected losses as well as a projected home win against his No.8 team, Virginia (69-67, 58%) and road wins at SLU, GW and Richmond.
Kenpom predicts double-digit VCU wins in 12 of their regular season games this season.
Seven of VCU’s 12 non-conference opponents will start the season in his top-100 (top-100 wins are huge come tournament time and are a major part of a team’s RPI) while seven of the A-10’s 14 teams begin the season in Pomeroy’s top-100.
