Florida basketball improved to 5-3 on Tuesday night with a comeback win over the visiting Merrimack Warriors. The Gators were down by one at the half but thundered back in the final 20 minutes to earn a 77-57 win.
According to the eye test, the victory was far from impressive as the first half exposed a great deal of flaws in the team despite starting the game with a full roster for the first time since the win over Pittsburgh. On the bright side, adjustments were made and the team found a way to get to the finish line.
That is where the NET rankings — a fully objective measurement of outcomes — come in. It not only considers coarse details like win-loss, but also takes into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.
Todd Golden’s team moved up 16 spots in the NET on Wednesday following the win to No. 49 overall, bookended by the San Francisco Dons — Golden’s former team — at No. 48 and Texas Longhorns at No. 50. So far, Florida is 0-2 in Quadrant 1 games while 1-1 in Q2, 1-0 in Q3 and 3-0 in Q4.
Here’s how the quadrant system breaks things up:
- 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
Conversely, the Gators fell four spots in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index update on Wednesday to No. 28.
Next up for Florida are the NET’s 80th-ranked Richmond Spiders, who face the Gators in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday, Dec. 9. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.
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