The popular basketball analytics website KenPom released its yearly projections and rankings for all NCAA Division-I men’s basketball programs on Tuesday. After finishing with a ranking of No. 39 last year, the Shockers are the No. 74 team heading into the upcoming season.

Last season, WSU opened up as the No. 62 team in the country before jumping 23 spots across the course of the 2019-20 season. 

Currently, KenPom is only able to predict one game on the Shockers schedule. The site gives the Shockers a 40% chance to beat Dayton in the first-round matchup of the Crossover Classic with a score prediction of 74-72. 

In the American Athletic Conference, the Shockers are projected to finish fifth in the conference only behind Houston (No. 22), Memphis (No. 39), SMU (No. 57) and Cincinnati (No. 59). Last week, in the AAC’s Coaches Poll, WSU was picked to finish in seventh place in the conference. 

The Shockers opened the season with an adjusted offensive efficiency of 102.3 (No. 99) and an adjusted defensive efficiency of 91 (No. 60). WSU’s offensive ranking is fifth-best in the AAC while its defensive ranking is sixth-best. Last season, the Shockers has the eight-best defensive efficiency and the No. 117-highest offensive in the country.

For the second consecutive season, Charles Koch Arena was given a home-court advantage score of 3.4 which is 120th in Division-I. Koch Arena is currently the 77th largest arena in the country.