The final NCAA NET rankings of 2024 have the Florida Gators at No. 4 overall, behind Auburn, Tennessee and Duke, in that order.
The Gators opened the month at No. 6 and bounced around the top 10 in recent weeks, dipping as low as No. 8, but have held the No. 4 spot since Dec. 21.
Florida’s win over Arizona State was downgraded to a Quadrant 2 victory earlier this week, and its most recent wins have come by a combined 90 points against a pair of Q4 opponents.
The Gators remain the third-highest-rated team in the SEC. Auburn and Tennesse continue to be the consensus top programs in the nation, ranking Nos. 1 and 2 in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll and NET.
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
With the Arizona State win being downgraded, Florida now has just one Q1 victory, against No. 39 North Carolina. (Florida vs. Q1: 1-0)
The Gators won three Q2 matchups, against Florida State (No. 86) on the road and Arizona State (No. 52) and Wake Forest (No. 100) on a neutral site. Wake Forest is on the very border of the Q2 threshold, so that could change once conference play begins. The same goes for Arizona State but on the Q1/Q2 side. (Florida vs. Q2: 3-0)
Florida’s two Q3 wins have come against Virginia (No. 102) at home and Wichita State (No. 104) at a neutral site. Both have the potential to improve to Q2 matchups, with Wichita State being more likely as a neutral-site win. (Florida vs. Q3: 2-0)
Seven of Florida’s 12 wins have come against Q4 opponents, six at home — Florida A&M (No. 337), Grambling (No. 319), Jacksonville (No. 175), North Florida (No. 168), Southern Illinois (No. 218) and Stetson (No. 358) — and one against South Florida (No. 214) in Jacksonville.
Wins over the JU Dolphins and UNF Ospreys are within sniffing distance of reclassification, but Q3 wins aren’t lauded much by the committee. The South Florida matchup is also a candidate, being a neutral-site game. (Florida vs. Q4: 7-0)
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