Where is Wake Forest ranked?
College basketball junkies around the country rejoiced on Sunday afternoon when the 2016-2017 Ken Pomeroy preseason rankings were released. For those unfamiliar with the rankings, they are tempo-free rankings based on the four factors of basketball: effective field goal percentage, turnover rate, rebounding rate, and free throw rate. Where do the preseason rankings have Wake Forest?
Wake Forest is projected to be the 76th best team in the country, which puts them 13th in the Atlantic Coast Conference, ahead of just Georgia Tech and Boston College. The Deacs are projected to have the 69th (nice) best offense in the country, and the 96th best defense, while having the 35th fastest tempo. Overall, Wake is projected to finish 12-16, including 6-12 in conference play. This projection, however, does not factor in Wake’s second and third games of the Gildan Charleston Classic.
What do you all think of this initial ranking? For reference, Wake Forest has finished between 118th and 120th during each of the past 3 seasons. Wake finished last season with the 132nd best offense, while having the 127th best defense. When Wake Forest made the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament during the 2009-2010 season, the Deacs finished 58th in Ken Pom.
Wake Forest will host Piedmont International in an exhibition game on November 4th and 7:00 p.m. The Deacs begin the regular season on the 11th when they host Radford.
