By Conner Farrell —
Men’s basketball is one game into conference play following a victory over Miami. As they build off their 9-4 record in non-conference play, the newest NCAA metric used to rank teams is important to watch as the postseason draws near.
The NET, or NCAA Evaluation Tool, is a new rankings system implemented by the NCAA committee to replace the former system, the RPI.
When the NET was announced as a replacement in August, the NCAA released the criteria by which each team is graded. This provided transparency in how the committee are grading schools and their chances of earning an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.
The NET releases a new edition of the rankings daily and is based on four factors:
Team Value Index
This metric is an algorithm put in place to reward teams who beat top-tier opponents. Based on in-game results, the Team Value Index takes into account the opponent and their ranking, location of the matchup and the winner.
Net Efficiency
Net Efficiency is an equation of a team’s offensive efficiency minus the team’s defensive efficiency.
A team’s offensive efficiency is determined by taking a team’s total points divided by total number of possessions.
Defensive efficiency is the opponent’s total points divided by the number of total number of opponent’s possessions.
Winning Percentage
Winning Percentage is determined by dividing the number of wins a team has by the total number of games played.
The committee factors in adjusted win percentage, which has a higher value on road and neutral site wins. It is graded as follows – Road Win: +1.4, Neutral Win: +1.0, Home Win: +0.6, Road Loss: -0.6, Neutral Loss: -1.0, Home Loss: -1.4.
Scoring Margin
Scoring Margin refers to the final score of a single game and is equal to one team’s score minus their opponent’s score.
Not only do the NET rankings affect a team’s tournament resume, but also the value of Quadrant wins and losses.
A team’s position in the NET rankings influences the strength or weakness of Quadrant wins.
The Quadrant system is layed out as follows – Quadrant 1: Games at home vs. teams ranked 1-30 in the NET, Neutral site vs. 1-50, Road site vs. 1-75. Quadrant 2: Home vs. 31-75, Neutral site vs. 51-100, Road site vs. 76-135. Quadrant 3: Home vs. 76-160, Neutral site vs. 101-200, Road site vs. 136-240. Quadrant 4: Home vs. 161+, Neutral site vs. 201+, Road site vs. 241+.
As of Jan. 6, U of L men’s basketball is ranked No. 29 in the NET with a 2-4 record against Quadrant 1 teams (wins against Michigan St. Seton Hall).
The Cardinals have six games remaining on the conference schedule against current top-50 NET teams. As the season progresses, head coach Chris Mack must take advantage of every opportunity to improve his team’s resume with March Madness and the NCAA tournament looming closer.
Men’s basketball is one game into conference play following a victory over Miami. As they build off their 9-4 record in non-conference play, the newest NCAA metric used to rank teams is important to watch as the postseason draws near.
The NET, or NCAA Evaluation Tool, is a new rankings system implemented by the NCAA committee to replace the former system, the RPI.
When the NET was announced as a replacement in August, the NCAA released the criteria by which each team is graded. This provided transparency in how the committee are grading teams and their chances of earning an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.
The NET releases a new edition of the rankings daily and is based on four factors.
Team Value Index
This metric is an algorithm put in place to reward teams who beat top-tier opponents. Based on in-game results, the Team Value Index takes into account the opponent and their ranking, location of the matchup and the winner.
Net Efficiency
Net Efficiency is an equation of a team’s offensive efficiency minus the team’s defensive efficiency.
A team’s offensive efficiency is determined by taking a team’s total points divided by total number of possessions.
Defensive efficiency is the opponent’s total points divided by the number of total number of opponent’s possessions.
Winning Percentage
Winning Percentage is determined by dividing the number of wins a team has by the total number of games played.
The committee factors in adjusted win percentage, which has a higher value on road and neutral site wins. It is graded as follows – Road Win: +1.4, Neutral Win: +1.0, Home Win: +0.6, Road Loss: -0.6, Neutral Loss: -1.0, Home Loss: -1.4.
Scoring Margin
Scoring Margin refers to the final score of a single game and is equal to one team’s score minus their opponent’s score.
Not only do the NET rankings affect a team’s tournament resume, but if effects the value of Quadrant wins and losses.
A team’s position in the NET rankings influences the strength or weakness of Quadrant wins.
The Quadrant system is layed out as follows – Quadrant 1: Games at home vs. teams ranked 1-30 in the NET, Neutral site vs. 1-50, Road site vs. 1-75. Quadrant 2: Home vs. 31-75, Neutral site vs. 51-100, Road site vs. 76-135. Quadrant 3: Home vs. 76-160, Neutral site vs. 101-200, Road site vs. 136-240. Quadrant 4: Home vs. 161+, Neutral site vs. 201+, Road site vs. 241+.
As of Jan. 6 U of L men’s basketball is ranked No. 29 in the NET with a 2-4 record against Quadrant 1 teams (wins against Michigan St. Seton Hall).
The Cardinals have six games remaining on the conference schedule against current top 50 NET teams. As the season progresses, head coach Chris Mack must take advantage of every opportunity to improve his team’s resume with March Madness and the NCAA tournament looming closer.
You can follow the Louisville Cardinal on Twitter @thecardsports.
Photo by Nancy Hanner / The Louisville Cardinal
