Florida moves into No. 4 in NET rankings after toughest stretch of season
Florida moves into No. 4 in NET rankings after toughest stretch of season
The Florida Gators are back in the No. 4 spot of the NET Rankings after a two-week stretch at No. 5. The impetus for the move is a 3-1 finish through arguably the toughest four-game stretch in the sport.
Florida dropped its road game against Tennessee on Feb. 1 by 20 points but responded with an 11-point win at home over Vanderbilt, a nine-point road win over No. 1 Auburn (Florida's second victory over a No. 1 this season) and a 13-point road win over Mississippi State Tuesday night.
Auburn, Duke and Houston still fill out the top three, in that order, and Tennessee and Alabama give the SEC four teams inside the top six. Rounding out the top 10 are Iowa State, Purdue, Texas Tech and Arizona; Purdue and Texas Tech recently swapped places.
Florida has just seven games left in the regular season, four of which are Quadrant 1 matchups. Following the tough stretch, Florida gets a bit of a breather facing South Carolina and Oklahoma at home (Q3 and Q2) and LSU on the road (Q2).
It's important to remember that while they are called 'rankings' the NET is an evaluation tool at heart — that's what the E and T stand for. It's not a hard list and is more of a sorting tool for the selection committee come bracket time. The rankings rely on a quadrant system (below), where Quadrant 1 (Q1) wins and Q3/Q4 losses matter the most.
'The 2024-25 men's basketball season marks the seventh season of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, which replaced the RPI prior to the 2018-19 season as the primary sorting tool for evaluating teams,' according to the NCAA.
Breaking down Florida's wins by Quadrant
Before going into Florida's resume, it's important to understand how the quadrants are divided. Where a game is played has as much to do with the quadrant as the quality of the opponent. As the rankings change, so do the quality of the wins.
For example, Florida's win over Florida State was a Q1 victory when the game was played but spent most of the non-conference slate as a downgraded Q2 win. Then FSU stabilized and returned to Quad 1 status before moving back into Q2 territory at the start of February. Nothing is guaranteed until the conference tournaments come to an end.
Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
North Carolina remains a neutral-site Q1 opponent at No. 50 but is right on the threshold. All three of Florida losses to No. 5 Tennessee, No. 15 Kentucky and No. 19 Tennessee are Q1 losses, and the Gators have Q1 wins over No. 1 Auburn, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 30 Mississippi State, No. 41 Arkansas and No. 42 Vanderbilt. (Florida vs. Q1: 5-3)
As mentioned above, the Florida State (No. 83) win is back in Q2 range, joining neutral-site wins over No. 63 Arizona State and No. 67 Wake Forest in the non-conference slate. During SEC play, Florida has beaten No. 33 Texas, No. 35 Georgia and No. 42 Vanderbilt at home and No. 90 South Carolina on the road. (Florida vs. Q2: 7-0)
Florida's season-opening win against No. 195 South Florida on a neutral court is the first of three Gators Q3 wins. Wins over No. 146 Wichita State (neutral site) and No. 105 Virginia at home round out the smallest group in this breakdown. (Florida vs. Q3: 3-0)
All six of Florida's Q4 wins have come at home. There's little hope for Florida A&M (No. 318), Grambling (No. 328) and Stetson (No. 352) to reclassify, and North Florida (No. 235) is running out of time. Jacksonville (No. 169) and Southern Illinois (No. 185) are both trending up, though. (Florida vs. Q4: 6-0)
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