Conference play hasn't even started, but predictions and leaderboards for the National Player of the Year award began when the first game of the season tipped off.
Now college basketball stastistician Ken Pomeroy released his first list of the season and Duke basketball forward Mason Plumlee tops his list.
Behind Plumlee, in order are Russ Smith (Louisville), Cody Zeller (Indiana), Doug McDermott (Creighton) and Trey Burke (Michigan).
Plumlee and Smith are well ahead of the competition in terms of points. A senior, Plumee is averaging 19.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game this season. He is making 63.8% of his field goals and 69.2% of his free throws. All of those numbers are career-highs.
Pomeroy makes it clear that his rankings are in no way supposed to be a predictor for the actual award, but rather a purely statistical measure of who he thinks is the best player in the land. His rankings will update daily from now through the end of the season, make sure to stay tuned.
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