No. 60 Virginia Commonwealth, the preseason favorite in the A-10 poll, No. 65 Saint Louis, No. 81 George Washington, No. 91 George Mason and No. 99 Loyola Chicago are also in the top 100.
KenPom.com predicts Dayton will finish 21-9 against its known opponents. It predicts Dayton, VCU and Saint Louis will all finish tied for first in the A-10 with 12-6 records.
Dayton started at No. 27 last season, its second-highest preseason rating, and finished at No. 77. Two seasons ago, it started 69th and finished 30th.
In non-conference play, Dayton will play seven teams rated in the top 100 in the preseason: No. 36 Cincinnati (Nov. 11); No. 47 Marquette (Nov. 19); No. 82 Georgetown (Nov. 27); No. 18 BYU or No. 76 Miami (Nov. 28); No. 59 Virginia (Dec. 6); No. 96 Florida State (Dec. 16); and No. 100 Liberty (Dec. 20).
Dayton has finished higher than its preseason rating nine times in the last 15 seasons and four times in coach Anthony Grant’s first eight seasons.
Here’s where Dayton has ranked in the preseason KenPom ratings over the years and where it has finished:
2010-11: 54 to 97.
2011-12: 81 to 69.
2012-13: 107 to 67.
2013-14: 70 to 42.
2014-15: 50 to 42.
2015-16: 64 to 59.
2016-17: 37 to 39.
2017-18: 103 to 172.
2018-19: 99 to 62.
2019-20: 55 to 4.
2020-21: 54 to 87.
2021-22: 84 to 55.
2022-23: 24 to 79.
2023-24: 69 to 30.
2024-25: 27 to 77.
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