KenPom Misses the Mark: Rick Barnes at 15th Is an Absolute Joke

By: Dallas Bowlin

Senior Staff Writer/Editor/Host

The All Vol Call In Show

Photo | Knoxville News Sentinel

Popular college basketball analytics guru Ken Pomeroy — better known as “KenPom” — recently released his preseason rankings. As a team, Tennessee checked in at No. 9. While I’d argue the Vols are better than that on paper (certainly better than Illinois, and maybe Kentucky), the ranking itself isn’t all that absurd. What is absurd, however, is his new model for this season — one that ranks the top 25 coaches in the country.

According to the model’s predictors, Tennessee’s Rick Barnes ranks as the fifteenth-best head coach in the country. The same model places Chris Beard at No. 9. If there’s a better coach than Barnes in the SEC — and I don’t believe there is — it’s certainly not Chris Beard. Let’s take a look at Barnes and Beard over the past five seasons:

Now, if the model is saying Chris Beard will be the better coach this season, that’s a little easier to digest — but it still doesn’t feel right, and the numbers back that up.

Ole Miss has seven newcomers on its roster: James Scott, Travis Perry, AJ Storr, Koren Johnson, Corey Chest, Kezza Giffa, and Ilias Kamardine. Those seven will replace the Rebels’ six key departures — Matthew Murrell, Jaylen Murray, Jaemyn Brakefield, Dre Davis, Sean Pedulla, and Davon Barnes.

Looking at On3’s College Basketball transfer rankings, Tennessee owns the seventh-best transfer class in the country, while Ole Miss sits at No. 19. Meanwhile, 247Sports lists the Vols with the eighth-best high school recruiting class, compared to No. 12 for the Rebels.

Chris Beard is a great coach — no argument there. But better than Rick Barnes? Come on. There’s just no metric, model, or math that makes that make sense. Fifteenth-best coach in the country? Rick Barnes deserves better, and the disrespect he and this Tennessee team are receiving is shameful. 

Take a look at the rankings below and tell me I’m wrong.