Who is the best team in the country "this year"

[boilerzz]

I think most would argue that Auburn has had the best season and that would be really hard to dispute. But from an efficiency perspective, who has the greatest efficiency difference since the calendar turned to January? Fortunately, Torvik allows us to run that. I like to do this leading into the tournament using the prior 6 weeks to look for underseeded teams and it frequently helps with my bracket picks.

Below is the 2025 calendar YTD top 20 as of this morning. A few thoughts:

• The metrics just love Houston
• Tennessee's offense was good early in the season but is reverting back to the pre-Knecht era numbers
• Damn St Johns defense is elite, but that offense will make it hard to count on them in the tourney
• Kansas and Iowa State are doing their best impressions of Tennessee lately and that's why they've had some bumpy rides of late
• I thought Auburn's D was impacted by Broome's absence but they were good on D in those games. They've not been great since he's been back (outside of that disgusting Tennessee game)
• Biggest surprises to the good - Missouri and St Mary's.
• Biggest surprises to the bad - Texas A&M (23) and Michigan (32) are outside the top 20
• Conference breakdown - SEC/B1G/B12 all with 5, BE/ACC with 2, WCC with 1

Rk	Team	Conf	G	Rec	AdjOE	Rank	AdjDE	Rank	Barthag	WAB	Rank
1	Houston	B12	11	10–1	127.9	3	89.4	5	0.9839	4.4	4
2	Purdue	B10	11	10–1	126.1	6	91.9	10	0.9744	4	6
3	Duke	ACC	10	9–1	126.4	5	93.4	15	0.9702	2.5	18
4	Auburn	SEC	10	9–1	127.2	4	94.1	19	0.9697	5	2
5	Florida	SEC	10	7–3	125.4	8	94	18	0.965	3.3	10
6	Texas Tech	B12	11	9–2	124.1	10	93.1	14	0.9645	4.5	3
7	Saint Mary's	WCC	11	10–1	119.2	27	89.5	6	0.9641	2.6	17
8	Missouri	SEC	10	6–4	126	7	94.7	23	0.9637	2.3	20
9	Alabama	SEC	10	9–1	128.3	2	96.7	35	0.9629	4.4	5
10	Wisconsin	B10	11	9–2	124.8	9	94.1	20	0.9626	3.6	8
11	Arizona	B12	11	10–1	122.3	15	93	13	0.9589	5.2	1
12	Tennessee	SEC	11	7–4	114	69	87.1	2	0.9567	3	12
13	Louisville	ACC	11	10–1	120.8	18	92.7	12	0.9545	2.8	15
14	Kansas	B12	11	7–4	116	52	89.1	4	0.9543	2.4	19
15	Michigan St.	B10	10	8–2	118.6	29	91.5	8	0.9515	2.9	14
16	Iowa St.	B12	11	7–4	115.2	60	90	7	0.9442	2.1	22
17	St. John's	BE	10	10–0	106	186	83.4	1	0.9403	3.7	7
18	Illinois	B10	12	7–5	122.3	14	96.7	36	0.9372	1.1	35
19	Creighton	BE	10	9–1	117.6	40	93.8	16	0.9308	3.5	9
20	UCLA	B10	11	7–4	120	22	95.8	27	0.9303	1.8	26

 

[Sparty_57]

I think most would argue that Auburn has had the best season and that would be really hard to dispute. But from an efficiency perspective, who has the greatest efficiency difference since the calendar turned to January? Fortunately, Torvik allows us to run that. I like to do this leading into the tournament using the prior 6 weeks to look for underseeded teams and it frequently helps with my bracket picks.

Below is the 2025 calendar YTD top 20 as of this morning. A few thoughts:

• The metrics just love Houston
• Tennessee's offense was good early in the season but is reverting back to the pre-Knecht era numbers
• Damn St Johns defense is elite, but that offense will make it hard to count on them in the tourney
• Kansas and Iowa State are doing their best impressions of Tennessee lately and that's why they've had some bumpy rides of late
• I thought Auburn's D was impacted by Broome's absence but they were good on D in those games. They've not been great since he's been back (outside of that disgusting Tennessee game)
• Biggest surprises to the good - Missouri and St Mary's.
• Biggest surprises to the bad - Texas A&M (23) and Michigan (32) are outside the top 20
• Conference breakdown - SEC/B1G/B12 all with 5, BE/ACC with 2, WCC with 1

Rk	Team	Conf	G	Rec	AdjOE	Rank	AdjDE	Rank	Barthag	WAB	Rank
1	Houston	B12	11	10–1	127.9	3	89.4	5	0.9839	4.4	4
2	Purdue	B10	11	10–1	126.1	6	91.9	10	0.9744	4	6
3	Duke	ACC	10	9–1	126.4	5	93.4	15	0.9702	2.5	18
4	Auburn	SEC	10	9–1	127.2	4	94.1	19	0.9697	5	2
5	Florida	SEC	10	7–3	125.4	8	94	18	0.965	3.3	10
6	Texas Tech	B12	11	9–2	124.1	10	93.1	14	0.9645	4.5	3
7	Saint Mary's	WCC	11	10–1	119.2	27	89.5	6	0.9641	2.6	17
8	Missouri	SEC	10	6–4	126	7	94.7	23	0.9637	2.3	20
9	Alabama	SEC	10	9–1	128.3	2	96.7	35	0.9629	4.4	5
10	Wisconsin	B10	11	9–2	124.8	9	94.1	20	0.9626	3.6	8
11	Arizona	B12	11	10–1	122.3	15	93	13	0.9589	5.2	1
12	Tennessee	SEC	11	7–4	114	69	87.1	2	0.9567	3	12
13	Louisville	ACC	11	10–1	120.8	18	92.7	12	0.9545	2.8	15
14	Kansas	B12	11	7–4	116	52	89.1	4	0.9543	2.4	19
15	Michigan St.	B10	10	8–2	118.6	29	91.5	8	0.9515	2.9	14
16	Iowa St.	B12	11	7–4	115.2	60	90	7	0.9442	2.1	22
17	St. John's	BE	10	10–0	106	186	83.4	1	0.9403	3.7	7
18	Illinois	B10	12	7–5	122.3	14	96.7	36	0.9372	1.1	35
19	Creighton	BE	10	9–1	117.6	40	93.8	16	0.9308	3.5	9
20	UCLA	B10	11	7–4	120	22	95.8	27	0.9303	1.8	26

Where would you rank Purdue among the top teams this season? Currently, they are 7th in both the AP and Coaches Poll.

 

[954gator]

I think Purdue is a great team. That being said, whats the toughest in conf road opponent ya'll have faced since Jan? From the same Torvik rankings it would be Oregon (42) which I think is a very good win (42 seems low for them IMO). Next toughest would be Iowa (69) or Rutgers (70). My point being I think Purdue simply hasn't played the hardest part of their conf schedule yet. They have 3 remaining road games vs top 20 teams coming up soon which might make them look a bit less efficient.

 

[954gator]

Like I love these advanced analytics, but do ya'll really think St. Mary's has been better than Alabama since Jan?

 

[ABVolsFan92]

don't care what the analytics say Tennessee is a top 5 team

 

[954gator]

Where would you rank Purdue among the top teams this season? Currently, they are 7th in both the AP and Coaches Poll.

They're definitely up there imo. Very good team and some of their guys are peaking at the right time. I would very much like for Florida to avoid them in March lmao.

 

[della]

don't care what the analytics say Tennessee is a top 5 team

These are his cherry picked analytics to support an agenda. Notice he omits the 4 OOC ass whoopins Perdue took.

 

[rockycard]

I think the SEC teams are really good, but the officiating has been letting most fouls go. If they get a crew in the tournament that calls everything, they will have to adjust really quick.

 

[englandnu]

I’m watching Arizona closely. They are coming on big-time. They have to play at Kansas State ( big trap game) and at home against Houston this week.

 

[della]

I think the SEC teams are really good, but the officiating has been letting most fouls go. If they get a crew in the tournament that calls everything, they will have to adjust really quick.

Ain't it the truth with UK recklessly slamming into you and whacking you left and right. Something needs to be done.

 

[954gator]

I’m watching Arizona closely. They are coming on big-time. They have to play at Kansas State ( big trap game) and at home against Houston this week.

What do you think has been the difference between early season and now?

 

[Rod Dangerfield]

Ain't it the truth with UK recklessly slamming into you and whacking you left and right. Something needs to be done.

 

[boiler1987]

These are his cherry picked analytics to support an agenda. Notice he omits the 4 OOC ass whoopins Perdue took.

Purdue has been playing significantly better basketball since conference play resumed. Much of that can be attributed to Furst’s defensive abilities. The offense has been there all year but the defensive turnaround is likely why he posted that data.

We also only lost 3 OOC with 2 of them being blowouts.

 

[englandnu]

What do you think has been the difference between early season and now?

First, they played a brutal opening schedule. Then they had a lot of transfers that had to adjust. They are setting into their roles now.

They have all the tools. Let’s see what happens.

 

[boilerzz]

These are his cherry picked analytics to support an agenda. Notice he omits the 4 OOC ass whoopins Perdue took.

You suck at math.

 

[boilerzz]

I think Purdue is a great team. That being said, whats the toughest in conf road opponent ya'll have faced since Jan? From the same Torvik rankings it would be Oregon (42) which I think is a very good win (42 seems low for them IMO). Next toughest would be Iowa (69) or Rutgers (70). My point being I think Purdue simply hasn't played the hardest part of their conf schedule yet. They have 3 remaining road games vs top 20 teams coming up soon which might make them look a bit less efficient.

Yeah, it’s been an interesting year in the B1G from a scheduling perspective. The best teams all have a back loaded schedule. I think we are pretty good but will know a lot more in a few weeks.

We played a brutal non-con and split games with Auburn, Bama, Marquette and Texas A&M while the guys learned how to play without the 2 time NPOY but it was smoke and mirrors. We are worlds better defensively since then. I think we are still susceptible to a bad matchup. Hope we can avoid that in the tourney.

 

[della]

You suck at math.

You suck at English as you didn't notice how I spelled Perdue.

 

[954gator]

Yeah, it’s been an interesting year in the B1G from a scheduling perspective. The best teams all have a back loaded schedule. I think we are pretty good but will know a lot more in a few weeks.

We played a brutal non-con and split games with Auburn, Bama, Marquette and Texas A&M while the guys learned how to play without the 2 time NPOY but it was smoke and mirrors. We are worlds better defensively since then. I think we are still susceptible to a bad matchup. Hope we can avoid that in the tourney.

Yeah I remember TKR absolutely destroying Bama. Purdue's really good. I also like Michigan State a lot. That's another team people aren't talking about enough.