Conference play has begun and Florida’s opening loss to Kentucky on Saturday has the Gators down a few spots across most ranking systems in the sport, including the NCAA NET rankings.
Florida is down to No. 8 in the NET, a low point for the year that the Gators only reached for two days ending on Dec. 13. Quadrant 1 wins are the most powerful in the system, but Q1 losses aren’t a black mark by any means.
Ten of Florida’s 17 remaining games would be Q1 matchups at publishing time, so there will be plenty of chances to even the record. Tuesday’s matchup with No. 3 Tennessee and Saturday’s matchup at Arkansas both qualify.
The Gators remain the third-highest-rated team in the SEC. Auburn and Tennessee are in the top three, and Alabama is just behind Florida at No. 9 in the rankings.
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 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.
The rankings rely on a quadrant system (below), where Quadrant 1 (Q1) wins and Q3/Q4 losses matter the most.
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 wins against Arizona State and Florida State were Q1 victories at the time but have since been downgraded to Q2 victories based on the criteria below.
- 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
Florida’s win over No. 43 North Carolina at a neutral site is approaching downgrade territory and the loss this week at No. 12 Kentucky figures to finish as an L in the Q1 column. (Florida vs. Q1: 1-1)
The Gators won three Q2 matchups, at Florida State (No. 76) and against Arizona State (No. 52) and Wake Forest (No. 88) at neutral sites. The good news here is that Florida State and Arizona State are both one win away from moving into the Q1 threshold, and Wake Forest took a big step away from the other border. (Florida vs. Q2: 3-0)
Florida’s two Q3 wins have come against Virginia (No. 118) at home and Wichita State (No. 108) at a neutral site. Wichita State is close enough to the Q2-Q3 border to get put on watch, but these two seem solid Q3 for the foreseeable future. (Florida vs. Q3: 2-0)
Seven of Florida’s 13 wins have come against Q4 opponents, six at home — Florida A&M (No. 343), Grambling (No. 333), Jacksonville (No. 171), North Florida (No. 233), Southern Illinois (No. 284) and Stetson (No. 349) — and one at a neutral-site game against South Florida (No. 207) in Jacksonville. (Florida vs. Q4: 7-0)
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