If you're pinched for time, you can probably click away now. The headline doubles as the punchline on this one. Xavier debuts at 26 in the KenPom rankings for this year, 40 spots above where they finished last season. It's worth noting that X finished almost exactly where they started in the rankings last year; if that holds, they'll be cruising to the tournament this season.
Coach Steele prides himself on coaching defense, and Xavier's lands at exactly 50 in this projection. I'm not sure that means a whole lot at this point other than to illustrate that there's room for the Muskies to grow as the season wears on.