KenPom Rankings Highlight Stacked Battle 4 Atlantis Field

The Battle 4 Atlantis men’s basketball tournament figures to be one of the most interesting MTEs in all of college basketball this week, right up there with the Maui Invitational.

The reason behind the anticipation is the strength of the eight teams that have been gathered in the Bahamas. It was always expected to be a strong field, and the most recent KenPom rankings confirm that.

Only one of the eight teams, Davidson, is outside the top 100 in the KenPom rankings and four teams appear in the top 50 (Gonzaga, Arizona, Indiana and Oklahoma). The field also features three ranked teams in No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 14 Indiana and No. 24 Arizona.

West Virginia’s side of the bracket is particularly difficult. The Mountaineers open the event against Gonzaga (No. 2 in KenPom), on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. In the second round on Thursday, WVU will face either Indiana (No. 39 in KenPom) or Louisville (No. 57 in KenPom).

Battle 4 Atlantis KenPom Rankings

2. Gonzaga
24. Arizona
39. Indiana
47. Oklahoma
57. Louisville
71. West Virginia
72. Providence
117. Davidson

Of the eight teams, five are still undefeated on the young season. Gonzaga (5-0), Oklahoma (4-0), Providence (5-0), Indiana (4-0) and Davidson (4-0) have all yet to take a loss. West Virginia (3-1) and Louisville (3-1) have lost once and Arizona (2-2) is the only team in the bracket with multiple setbacks thus far.

West Virginia is coming off a dominating win over Iona last Wednesday, 86-43. The win boosted the Mountaineers up 10 spots in the KenPom rankings.

For a related story, WVU needs Javon Small to play big.