Latest KenPom Rankings for the 2026 NCAA Tournament

What KenPom rankings are (and how people use them)

KenPom (Ken Pomeroy) rankings are a tempo-adjusted rating system for men’s college basketball that compares teams by how efficiently they score and defend per 100 possessions (so slow teams and fast teams can be evaluated on the same scale).

The core pieces you’ll see:

• AdjO (Adjusted Offensive Efficiency): points scored per 100 possessions, adjusted for opponent quality
• AdjD (Adjusted Defensive Efficiency): points allowed per 100 possessions, adjusted for opponent quality
• AdjEM (Adjusted Efficiency Margin): AdjO − AdjD (the “overall power” number that drives the main ranking)

How they’re used:

• Power-rating teams beyond win/loss record (especially for “who’s actually good?” arguments)
• Projecting game outcomes (point spreads / win probabilities)
• Bracket + seeding context (committee talk, résumé vs. underlying strength)
• Matchup handicapping (elite offense vs. elite defense, imbalance red flags, etc.)

Latest Rankings – Updated Monday, March 9

Rk	Team	Off.	Def.
1	Duke	5	1
2	Michigan	4	2
3	Arizona	7	3
4	Florida	8	4
5	Illinois	1	26
6	Houston	17	6
7	Iowa St.	26	7
8	Purdue	2	39
9	Michigan St.	27	8
10	Gonzaga	29	9
11	Connecticut	28	11
12	Nebraska	54	5
13	Vanderbilt	15	27
14	Tennessee	36	15
15	Alabama	3	67
16	Louisville	14	30
17	Texas Tech	10	33
18	Arkansas	6	44
19	Kansas	53	10
20	Virginia	34	16
21	St. John’s	51	14
22	Saint Mary’s	43	17
23	Wisconsin	16	53
24	Iowa	32	28
25	BYU	11	68
26	Ohio St.	18	52
27	Kentucky	38	31
28	UCLA	19	51
29	Miami FL	33	35
30	North Carolina	35	34
31	Georgia	12	87
32	Villanova	40	32
33	Texas	9	111
34	Texas A&M	44	37
35	Utah St.	25	63
36	N.C. State	23	71
37	Santa Clara	24	73
38	Clemson	76	21
39	Auburn	13	124
40	Saint Louis	47	41
41	Indiana	39	59
42	Cincinnati	117	12
43	SMU	20	109
44	TCU	92	20
45	VCU	46	64
46	Oklahoma	21	116
47	San Diego St.	90	23
48	Baylor	22	122
49	New Mexico	64	40
50	Missouri	49	78
51	South Florida	61	50
52	Seton Hall	153	13
53	UCF	31	118
54	Washington	66	49
55	Boise St.	59	65
56	Virginia Tech	62	61
57	West Virginia	135	19
58	Tulsa	30	145
59	Stanford	60	75
60	Grand Canyon	147	18
61	Akron	42	128
62	LSU	52	112
63	Arizona St.	72	66
64	Colorado	55	115
65	Florida St.	67	81
66	Northwestern	65	88
67	Belmont	41	154
68	McNeese	86	56
69	Oklahoma St.	56	117
70	Northern Iowa	157	25
71	California	107	43
72	Minnesota	85	69
73	Providence	37	188
74	Wake Forest	69	96
75	Creighton	68	100
76	Nevada	78	92
77	USC	99	62
78	Yale	45	182
79	Dayton	133	36
80	Syracuse	84	91
81	Mississippi	96	74
82	Butler	75	114
83	George Washington	58	148
84	Hofstra	91	93
85	Colorado St.	48	194
86	Marquette	130	46
87	Georgetown	89	94
88	Wichita St.	108	72
89	Stephen F. Austin	103	80
90	Utah Valley	106	77
91	Miami OH	70	139
92	Notre Dame	81	121
93	High Point	63	160
94	George Mason	100	107
95	South Carolina	116	82
96	Oregon	120	83
97	Xavier	73	161
98	Wyoming	82	136
99	Pittsburgh	109	99
100	Mississippi St.	105	110
101	Kansas St.	110	105
102	DePaul	200	38
103	Illinois St.	146	76
104	UNLV	80	179
105	Illinois Chicago	150	84
106	UC Irvine	269	24
107	Davidson	148	89
108	St. Thomas	97	146
109	Sam Houston St.	87	164
110	UNC Wilmington	122	108
111	Pacific	142	98
112	Cal Baptist	190	54
113	UC San Diego	178	70
114	North Dakota St.	125	119
115	Hawaii	213	48
116	Liberty	57	260
117	Southern Illinois	272	29
118	Seattle	297	22
119	San Francisco	101	177
120	Murray St.	74	235
121	Saint Joseph’s	220	57
122	UAB	163	104
123	Bradley	127	140
124	UT Rio Grande Valley	139	127
125	Florida Atlantic	152	123
126	UC Santa Barbara	95	207
127	Utah	93	213
128	Maryland	137	138
129	Rutgers	141	133
130	Memphis	204	79
131	Fresno St.	197	86
132	Montana St.	138	142
133	Duquesne	149	135
134	Rhode Island	232	60
135	Toledo	88	236
136	Northern Colorado	123	186
137	Washington St.	98	221
138	Penn St.	94	232
139	Robert Morris	134	168
140	North Texas	275	42
141	Portland St.	273	47
142	Navy	207	101
143	Richmond	131	192
144	Wright St.	118	204
145	William & Mary	136	184
146	Bowling Green	211	102
147	East Tennessee St.	155	162
148	Arkansas St.	144	174
149	Harvard	203	113
150	Central Arkansas	154	166
151	Winthrop	128	201
152	Boston College	270	58
153	Troy	145	185
154	Kent St.	121	210
155	UC Davis	175	144
156	UT Arlington	288	45
157	Towson	237	90
158	Cornell	50	336
159	Valparaiso	185	130
160	St. Bonaventure	104	246
161	Loyola Marymount	221	106
162	Temple	114	228
163	Penn	199	125
164	Georgia Tech	193	131
165	Idaho	176	155
166	Eastern Washington	102	256
167	Western Kentucky	183	141
168	Fordham	255	85
169	Cal St. Fullerton	151	195
170	Oakland	83	294
171	Middle Tennessee	174	171
172	Northern Kentucky	168	175
173	Charleston	186	150
174	Merrimack	206	137
175	Austin Peay	191	152
176	CSUN	188	158
177	Campbell	126	249
178	Kennesaw St.	162	206
179	Oregon St.	166	199
180	Texas A&M Corpus Chris	262	103
181	Monmouth	228	134
182	New Orleans	161	214
183	Queens	79	324
184	Utah Tech	140	242
185	New Mexico St.	159	224
186	Tennessee St.	173	211
187	Montana	222	153
188	Mercer	124	266
189	Columbia	181	203
190	FIU	202	180
191	Charlotte	113	287
192	Appalachian St.	230	151
193	Weber St.	129	274
194	Drake	158	247
195	Siena	208	193
196	Portland	227	165
197	Lipscomb	215	187
198	UMBC	205	198
199	Furman	217	191
200	Indiana St.	225	173
201	Massachusetts	180	222
202	Howard	276	120
203	Marist	332	55
204	Jacksonville St.	241	159
205	Marshall	119	298
206	South Alabama	214	196
207	Buffalo	111	308
208	Louisiana Tech	303	95
209	Green Bay	112	307
210	Tulane	194	217
211	Cal Poly	160	263
212	James Madison	172	252
213	Samford	164	262
214	Youngstown St.	240	181
215	Missouri St.	189	234
216	Tarleton St.	267	147
217	LIU	248	178
218	Quinnipiac	265	156
219	South Dakota St.	187	243
220	Southern Miss	254	183
221	Drexel	295	126
222	Detroit Mercy	179	261
223	Tennessee Martin	321	97
224	San Diego	184	254
225	La Salle	245	205
226	Rice	182	265
227	Ohio	192	255
228	Western Carolina	169	286
229	Stony Brook	252	209
230	Georgia Southern	143	311
231	Elon	156	303
232	Nicholls	235	220
233	Southeast Missouri	298	143
234	Long Beach St.	243	215
235	Vermont	210	251
236	Denver	77	358
237	San Jose St.	132	325
238	Bethune Cookman	277	189
239	Lamar	283	176
240	American	239	233
241	Eastern Michigan	305	149
242	Charleston Southern	234	240
243	Florida Gulf Coast	238	237
244	UNC Asheville	256	218
245	Texas St.	268	208
246	Abilene Christian	319	132
247	Coastal Carolina	304	157
248	Old Dominion	229	250
249	Idaho St.	165	315
250	Colgate	198	288
251	Princeton	249	244
252	Southern Utah	212	280
253	Wofford	171	313
254	Boston University	115	345
255	East Carolina	278	212
256	SIUE	329	129
257	Saint Peter’s	286	202
258	Radford	224	272
259	Iona	271	226
260	UC Riverside	274	225
261	Purdue Fort Wayne	246	253
262	Nebraska Omaha	226	279
263	Pepperdine	247	258
264	Fairfield	236	269
265	Sacramento St.	233	277
266	Incarnate Word	177	323
267	Lindenwood	320	169
268	Milwaukee	223	297
269	Presbyterian	281	241
270	Central Michigan	231	292
271	Longwood	279	248
272	Hampton	294	227
273	Western Michigan	195	318
274	Dartmouth	257	275
275	Southern	264	264
276	North Dakota	219	312
277	UTEP	311	200
278	Bellarmine	71	365
279	Mount St. Mary’s	334	170
280	Northwestern St.	296	245
281	South Dakota	263	285
282	Morehead St.	216	321
283	Northeastern	201	330
284	Mercyhurst	310	223
285	Southeastern Louisiana	326	197
286	East Texas A&M	317	219
287	Brown	342	163
288	North Carolina A&T	251	310
289	Houston Christian	287	273
290	Lehigh	293	267
291	Ball St.	339	190
292	Delaware	260	301
293	Loyola Chicago	282	282
294	Jacksonville	284	283
295	Sacred Heart	209	337
296	Eastern Kentucky	170	350
297	Le Moyne	301	268
298	Grambling St.	345	167
299	UNC Greensboro	196	348
300	Chattanooga	244	327
301	Alabama A&M	258	317
302	USC Upstate	337	216
303	Stetson	250	329
304	West Georgia	307	276
305	Central Connecticut	259	326
306	Wagner	292	299
307	Evansville	302	289
308	Texas Southern	299	293
309	Little Rock	289	300
310	Georgia St.	336	238
311	Oral Roberts	300	295
312	Prairie View A&M	312	271
313	Louisiana	322	259
314	Tennessee Tech	291	304
315	Florida A&M	340	230
316	Arkansas Pine Bluff	285	314
317	Alabama St.	325	257
318	IU Indy	242	342
319	UMass Lowell	290	316
320	Northern Arizona	253	344
321	Norfolk St.	308	309
322	Cleveland St.	167	362
323	Loyola MD	266	339
324	Eastern Illinois	347	229
325	Albany	280	332
326	Lafayette	316	306
327	Cal St. Bakersfield	306	319
328	New Haven	351	239
329	Manhattan	261	351
330	Holy Cross	315	322
331	Bucknell	341	291
332	NJIT	344	270
333	Northern Illinois	346	281
334	Stonehill	362	172
335	North Florida	218	363
336	Fairleigh Dickinson	313	334
337	Army	323	335
338	Niagara	330	331
339	Southern Indiana	354	278
340	UTSA	327	333
341	North Alabama	328	338
342	Jackson St.	318	347
343	Canisius	355	284
344	Air Force	350	302
345	Chicago St.	333	340
346	The Citadel	314	352
347	Maine	363	231
348	Maryland Eastern Shore	358	290
349	New Hampshire	356	305
350	Louisiana Monroe	309	360
351	Alcorn St.	349	328
352	Morgan St.	324	353
353	North Carolina Central	335	354
354	Saint Francis	331	357
355	Bryant	348	343
356	South Carolina St.	357	341
357	Rider	352	349
358	Kansas City	360	320
359	Binghamton	343	361
360	VMI	338	364
361	Gardner Webb	353	359
362	Delaware St.	365	296
363	Coppin St.	361	346
364	Western Illinois	359	355
365	Mississippi Valley St.	364	356

KenPom Top 20 – March 9

Duke and Michigan Still Lead the Pack

Duke (5 Off / 1 Def) remains the most complete team in the country. The Blue Devils pair the nation’s best defense with a top-five offense, the exact efficiency profile KenPom tends to reward deep in March.

Michigan (4 / 2) sits right behind with almost the same formula. A top-five offense and top-two defense gives the Wolverines one of the cleanest statistical resumes in college basketball.

Arizona (7 / 3) and Florida (8 / 4) round out the top tier. Both teams are strong on both ends of the floor and lack a glaring weakness, making them among the most stable contenders in the field.

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The Elite Offense Tier

A few teams near the top rely heavily on scoring efficiency:

Illinois (1 / 26) still owns the best offense in the country. The defense has improved slightly but remains outside the elite tier.

Purdue (2 / 39) continues to be powered by an explosive offense, though the defense has slipped further outside the top 30.

Alabama (3 / 67) remains the most extreme statistical split in the Top 20. The Crimson Tide can score with anyone but struggle defensively.

Arkansas (6 / 44) follows a similar pattern — high-level offense paired with defensive volatility.

These teams can overwhelm opponents offensively but tend to carry more variance.

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Defense-Driven Programs

Several teams in the Top 20 are anchored primarily by defensive efficiency:

• Houston (17 / 6)
• Iowa State (26 / 7)
• Michigan State (27 / 8)
• Nebraska (54 / 5)
• Kansas (53 / 10)
• Tennessee (36 / 15)

These programs rely on suppressing scoring and controlling tempo rather than winning shootouts.

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Balanced but Not Elite

A handful of teams sit in the middle with relatively balanced profiles:

• Gonzaga (29 / 9)
• Connecticut (28 / 11)
• Vanderbilt (15 / 27)
• Louisville (14 / 30)
• Texas Tech (10 / 33)
• Virginia (34 / 16)

These teams remain competitive across both ends but lack a top-five unit anchoring their statistical profile.

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