Bart Torvik has become one of the leading analytical sources in college basketball over the years, so much so that the NCAA recently added his “T-Rank” metric to the group of statistics that are considered for its tournament field each year.
For reference, Pitt’s 2022-23 team rated significantly lower than the average NCAA Tournament team in T-Rank, coming in at No. 72 in the country. However, the 2023-24 team — the one that did not make the tournament — finished the season at No. 30 overall. Saint John’s (No. 16), Pitt (No. 30), Villanova (No. 31), Wake Forest (No. 35), Seton Hall (No. 38), and Utah (No. 40) were the highest-ranked Torvik teams that did not earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
“The core of T-Rank is calculating offensive and defensive efficiency: points scored and points allowed per possession (“PPP” = points per possession, often rendered as points per 100 possessions),” Torvik said in a blog post explaining the stat. “Although coaches like Dean Smith and Bo Ryan have long relied on PPP, it really hit the big time when Ken Pomeroy popularized it about a decade ago.”
Now, in addition to the T-Rank capability on Torvik’s site, he also offers stat projections for college basketball teams and players.
His system projects Ishmael Leggett to lead Pitt in scoring and rebounding at 15.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Next, his system has Jaland Lowe averaging 13.1 points and 3.8 assists per game. Damian Dunn, the Houston transfer, is projected to average 10.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, per the system. Cam Corhen is listed at a projected 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest.
Check out the full team breakdown here on Torvik’s site.
Torvik’s projections do not include Amsal Delalic, Pitt’s 21-year-old freshman out of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He told PSN that the system does not typically consider European freshmen prospects.
