9 teams met Ken Pom criteria of champs pre-tourney. KU is a defensive outlier

Since 2002, every champion has been in the top 25 in Ken Poms rankings on each selection Sunday

Since 2002, every championship team, except 2014 Uconn: 58th, had a Ken Pom offense rated 25th or better before the start of the tournament.

Since 2002, every championship team had a Ken Pom defense rated 40th or better before the start of the tournament.

The rule of thumb for most champs since 2002 has been this: Rank in the top 25 in Ken Pom's rankings, rank in the top 25 in Ken Pom offense, and rank in the top 40 in Ken Pom defense before the tournament begins.

The only teams who met all three criteria before this years tournament started were (their Ken Pom pre tournament offense/defense rankings are included as well):

Michigan State: 9, 9
Gonzaga: 12, 17
Duke: 3, 7
UNC: 4, 34
Purdue: 2, 28
Villanova: 1, 22
Virginia: 21, 1
Kentucky: 25, 23
West Virginia: 14, 39

Michigan State, UNC, and Virginia were eliminated this past weekend from the contenders list. I was surprsied to see Michigan State lose with their 9th ranked Ken Pom offense/defense. UNC was a surprise as well being ranked 4th and 34th pre tournament. Virginia just didn't have the offense to keep up with UMBC's hot three point shooting and their slower pace of play didn't help either.

Which brings me to KU. KU was ranked 6th in offense and 46th in defense pre tournament. All champs, except for 2014 Uconn, ranked in the top 25 in offense before the tournament began. KU is definitely in good company here.

Our pre tournament Ken Pom rankings compare to the following champions: 2017 UNC: 4th and 25th, 2015 Duke: 3rd and 37th, and 2009 UNC: 1st and 39th. If KU were to win the championship (NO JINX), we would be the lowest rated defense (worse than 40) to win it all since Ken Pom started in 2002.

However, these are arbitrary cutoffs here. There's no reason why a team ranked 41-50 in pre tournament defense couldn't be capable of winning the title; it simply means it hasn't been done before since 2002. The one takeaway is having an elite offense is key in the ncaa tournament and KU certainly has had that this season. If we are able to crack down on defense then we may very well find ourselves in the final 4, championship game, or even perhaps defy the odds and win the whole thing. (AGAIN...NO JINX INTENDED)