Shot volume stats for the 2025 men's NCAA Tournament
Pump up the volume
Last year, as part of a larger piece of prep, I included shot volume stats for everyone in the men’s field of 68.
One last thing: I did include Shot Volume stats for everyone this year. They’re available in season-long format, top-150 games only, and road/neutral games only. A reminder: 111 is the national average. 115 is good. 118+ is elite. Sub-111 and you’re below average; sub-109 and you have Actual Real Problems. To save the trouble here, the only metric provided is Overall Shot Volume, which is your offensive SV minus your defensive SV. It’s just easier to explain than telling someone that 117 is notably better than 115. The field average this year is +5.1. A good one is +8.5 or higher; a weak one is +2 or lower.
For top 150 games: average +1.1, good +5.5, bad -2.3. For road/neutral: average +2.7, good +5.7, bad -0.9.
This year, I decided to break that out into its own post. For one, it’s because I had an alarming number of people request a thing that’s less correlated to March win totals than just using KenPom’s efficiency numbers. For two, I do find this stuff pretty fascinating, and it is something I watch for every year. And for a third reason, thanks to John Gasaway, Shot Volume Index (his invention, not mine) is here for the first time, along with our traditional Easy Shot Volume (ESV) metric (100 - TO% + OREB%).
I’ve also included seed averages with each team, along with commentary where necessary. As a preview, here’s Auburn:
(1) Auburn
Shot Volume Index overall: +6.7 (1 seed average: +6.2)
Easy Shot Volume overall: +8.1 (1 seed average: +9.1)
SVI, top-150 games only: +5.1
SVI, road/neutral games only: +3.8
ESV, top-150 games only: +5.9
ESV, road/neutral games only: +4.5
But to read the rest of this information, it is paywalled. It’s $20 for a year, or you can sign up for a month and…well, don’t cancel. I do have to go to Dollywood today as part of my Healthy Marriage Package. It’s sold alongside the Prayer Pod on Righteous Gemstones.
Without further ado, your 2025 Shot Volume numbers are behind the wall.