Most Improved: The Five Mid-Major Programs That Made the Biggest Jumps in 2026
Tulsa jumped 211 spots, SFA leaped 180, and Central Arkansas climbed 198. Here are the five most improved mid-major programs from the 2025 to 2026 season.
Happy Memorial Day!
As we mentioned last week, offseason reviews will be firing up starting in June, so I figured what better way to get us in the swing of looking ahead for next season than a little look back at last year?
The transfer portal, NIL, and the current climate of college basketball has changed how programs rebuild. It’s no longer a rarity to see a team jump 100+ spots in KenPom from one season to another now with the ability to rebuild your team every season. The question now is, can the teams that see this growth sustain it? Can they retain their key players?
Let’s take a look at who were the top five teams that improved from 2025 to 2026 and what metrics drove them to see those results.
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Tulsa (267th → 56th)
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane made the largest jump of the season after finishing just 13-20 overall and 267th in KenPom during the 2024-2025 season. They jumped to an incredible 30-8 record this past season, which was good enough for 56th in KenPom and a trip to the NIT Finals where they fell to Auburn in overtime 92-86.
Looking at their metrics, two areas really stand out:
AdjOE jumped from 101.6 to 120.1 (270th to 43rd)
AdjDE jumped from 110.2 to 106.4 (224th to 116th)
These metrics made massive jumps while having a generally neutral strength of schedule adjustment between the two seasons. Their offensive schedule adjustment increased from -0.7 to 0.0, meaning they played statistically stronger offenses. Their defensive schedule adjustment did drop a bit from +1.7 to just +0.3, but that’s not enough to really skew the massive jump they made overall.
The four-headed monster in David Green, Tylen Riley, Miles Barnstable, and Ade Popoola was lethal for Tulsa. Green averaged 15.9 points with 4.6 rebounds, while Riley averaged 15 points, Barnstable had 14.6, and Popoola had 10.8 points with 1.3 steals as well. As a team, they were ranked in the top 50 of several key metrics including 29th in effective field goal percentage, 10th in three-point shooting percentage, and 13th in free throw shooting percentage.
It’s been a rollercoaster for Eric Konkol in his first four years on the job, finishing 316th, 184th, 267th, and then 56th in KenPom, but he has all of the momentum rolling. They’ve lost some key pieces, but they’ve built right back in up the portal and are setting themselves up for a successful season coming up. Stay tuned for our offseason review of the 2026-2027 Golden Hurricane later this offseason.
Central Arkansas (349th → 151st)
John Shulman put together one of the best stories across Mid-Major college basketball this season as the Central Arkansas Bears jumped from a 9-24 record which equated to just a 349th KenPom record to 22-12 overall and a 151st finishing position per KenPom.
The Bears ultimately lost to Queens in overtime in the Atlantic Sun Championship, but that shouldn’t overcast just how much they improved in one season. Here are their key offensive and defensive improvements:
AdjOE jumped from 97.5 to 110.2 (332nd to 152nd)
AdjDE jumped from 116.2 to 109 (340th to 166th)
Camren Hunter was a beast this season, finishing averaging 21 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 50.6% overall. Ty Robinson was right behind him with 14.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, two assists, and 1.9 steals per game.
Diving into some of the deeper metrics, their offensive schedule adjustment did drop from -1.7 to -3.2, meaning that overall they played statistically weaker offenses throughout the season. Couple that with their standout defensive improvements, and you have the recipe for what contributed to such a sharp increase within just one offseason.
While it’s the life of a growing Mid-Major, the Bears did lose several key players including Hunter, but Ty Robinson stayed committed and will be returning to the Bears for his sophomore season. He’ll be positioned as their go-to player.
Cal St. Fullerton (351th → 170th)
Cal State Fullerton was not talked about enough this past season. In 2025, they finished just 6-26 overall and 351st in KenPom, but they jumped to 18-16 overall and 170th in KenPom during the 2025-2026 season. It’s been a wild ride for head Coach Dedrique Taylor who’s been at the helm since 2014, but there is a lot of reason to believe that they will be able to build off this strong improvement.
Before I dive into the overall metrics, I have to shout out how fun they were to watch. This team was FOURTH overall in tempo and third overall in average possession length at a remarkable 14.7 seconds. If you like offense, this was the team to watch last season. Breaking down their offensive and defensive metrics, here is where they landed:
AdjOE jumped from 93.8 to 109.3 (356th to 169th)
AdjDE jumped from 112.6 to 109.3 (294th to 176th)
As I highlighted with their tempo, it was night and day compared to 2025. They were just 129th in tempo last season, marking a massive jump. Interestingly enough as well, their defensive adjusted schedule actually took a large jump from -1.3 to +0.3 between the two seasons, so despite facing off against tougher defenses, the increased tempo translated into success.
They’ve lost some key pieces, but they’ve also brought in six transfers with another four freshman coming in. The Big West is in a lot of limbo right now as well, so the question is, will Taylor focus on quick and effective offense next season?
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Stephen F. Austin (271st → 91st)
The Lumberjacks had a bit of an uncharacteristic year during the 2024-2025 season, finishing just 14-17 overall and 271st in KenPom. They bounced back with a massive jump to 28-6 overall and 91st finishing position in KenPom. The Southland conference as a whole is rolling with both McNeese and Stephen F. Austin on the rise among other programs as well.
While they fell to McNeese in the Southland Conference Tournament, they received an invite to the NIT where they had the unfortunate first round pairing against Tulsa. They fell 89-84 in a thrilling overtime game, so while the season ended in disappointment don’t let that overshadow their improvement. Here’s how their offensive and defensive metrics grew:
AdjOE jumped from 94.8 to 112.8 (353rd to 90th)
AdjDE jumped from 101.8 to 100.4 (67th to 28th)
When you expand to look at their scheduling metrics, the picture gets more clearer. Their offensive adjusted scheduling decreased from +0.7 to -0.1, but their defensive adjusted scheduling dramatically jumped from +2.7 to +3.8. the 0.8 drop on the offensive side wasn’t enough to make up the massive jump in offensive metrics overall, but it definitely helped. On the defensive end though, it’s remarkable that it jumped nearly an entire point just they still increased to a top-30 overall defense.
It doesn’t look like they are going to be slowing down any time soon either. They’ve retained some players and added several intriguing players out of the portal, setting them up to see success next season as well.
Pacific (284th → 112th)
Remember when Pacific finished just 6-26 and got blown out by Pepperdine 102-43 in the WCC Conference Tournament? Crazy that it was only two seasons ago, but they are really starting to get things rolling. After that disastrous finish, Dave Smart took over as head coach and the Tigers finished 9=24 and 28th in KenPom during the 2024-2025 season. They made a massive jump in year two underneath Smart, finishing 18-15th overall and 112th in KenPom. Here’s how their offensive and defensive metrics shaped up:
AdjOE jumped from 99.5 to 107.9 (314th to 186th)
AdjDE jumped from 113.0 to 105.7 (331st to 101st)
The key thing here is, both their offensive and defensive adjusted schedule increased. Their offensive jumped from +2.0 to +2.8 while their defensive jumped from -1.1 to -0.3, in which both really emphasize the size of growth they had in just one season.
They are going to be restarting with a nearly entire new roster, but Dave Smart should have Tigers’ fans feeling confident about his ability to lead this team into what will be a much more feasible WCC without Gonzaga at the top of the conference.
Offseason Reviews
It’s about that time! Starting in June, we’ll be sending out weekly (sometimes twice a week) offseason reviews all the way up till the start of the season. With that in mind, if you have a specific team that you’d like to see covered, send us a message below. We’ll do our best to cover all teams submitted once their roster has been finalized!