Florida basketball took a tough loss late Tuesday night to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina, following an authoritative win over the Ohio Bobcats the week prior on a neutral court. Subsequently, the Gators took a dip in the NET rankings dropping down to No. 68 from No. 53 the next day.
The primary sorting tool used to determine the strength of Division I men’s basketball teams is the NET ranking, which plays a major role in a school’s NCAA Tournament résumé and is updated regularly throughout the year. As the numbers are revised on a daily basis, Florida moved up four spots to No. 64 on Thursday despite sitting idle.
The Gators are now 0-5 in Quadrant 1 matchups while still having not faced a Quad 2 team; Florida is a perfect 1-0 and 6-0 against Quad 3 and 4 programs, respectively. The Sooners — who handed [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag]’s squad their most recent loss — moved up to No. 50 (from No. 55) immediately following their win while inching up another four spots to No. 46 on Thursday.
Next up for the Orange and Blue is the Southeastern Conference opener against the Auburn Tigers, who are currently ranked No. 30 in the NET, on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST inside Neville Arena and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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