On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated dropped its preseason ranking of all 358 teams in men’s college basketball, which can be read here.
Compiled by Kevin Sweeney, the list gives us a chance to do a deeper dive into the numbers and see what the data suggests about narratives around the upcoming season. Which conferences look the strongest based on a weighted average, the number of teams in the top 100 and more measurements? Who do we predict to win each league—and to finish in the basement?
Below, we break down the answers to those questions, drawing from our master ranking.