Texas has some work to do in NET, but bracketology likes where the Horns could go

The NCAA says that its Evaluation Tool rankings, or NET rankings, function as the primary sorting method for evaluating men’s basketball teams by the tournament selection committee. The first NET iteration of the season was released last week and an updated look at the 1-362 ranking of every Division I team has the Longhorns sitting in the No. 64 spot.

[Join Inside Texas today using our College Football Playoff sale and choose from two great offers!]

There’s obviously a significant amount of the season left, over two and a half months to be exact. And the Longhorns will have plenty of opportunities to gain precious Quadrant 1 wins over the rest of non-conference play and the Big 12 slate.

Wins are organized by “quadrants,” which the NCAA defines as:

Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353

Texas’ schedule by quadrant so far

Quadrant 1 wins: N/A
Quadrant 1 losses: at No. 9 Marquette, vs. No. 7 UConn

Quadrant 2 wins: N/A
Quadrant 2 losses: N/A

Quadrant 3 wins: N/A
Quadrant 3 losses: N/A

Quadrant 4 wins: No. 302 UIW, No. 276 Delaware State, No. 269 Rice, No. 275 Louisville, No. 169 Wyoming, No. 214 Texas State, No. 359 Houston Christian
Quadrant 4 losses: N/A

So far, only Wyoming looks like a realistic candidate to quickly move up into the Quadrant 3 range. Everyone else may stay in the Quadrant 4 territory. Those games are only a detriment if Texas loses one of them, which so far they haven’t done under Rodney Terry.

The rest of the season gives Texas a number of opportunities to stack wins the NCAA selection committee would approve of and help Texas move up from No. 64 in the NET rankings.

Remaining games by quadrant

Quadrant 1 (12): at No. 26 Cincinnati, No. 6 Baylor, at No. 15 Oklahoma, at No. 3 BYU, No. 2 Houston, at No. 51 TCU, No. 8 Iowa State, at No. 2 Houston, at No. 14 Kansas, at No. 74 Texas Tech, at No. 6 Baylor, No. 15 Oklahoma

Quadrant 2 (1): No. 74 Texas Tech

Quadrant 3 (6): No. 184 LSU, No. 93 UNC Greensboro, at No. 194 West Virginia, No. 85 UCF, No. 80 Kansas State, No. 136 Oklahoma State,

Quadrant 4 (3): No. 292 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, No. 168 UT-Arlington, No. 194 West Virginia

What happened last season?

The Longhorns finished No. 7 in the NET rankings thanks to a stellar 16-9 record in Quadrant 1 games. All nine Longhorn losses last year were of the Quadrant 1 variety as the horns were 13-0 in other contests. That helped them earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced all the way to the Elite Eight before falling to Miami.

What’s next?

This is all subject to a LOT of change over the next 22 games, as the Big 12 is one of the stronger conferences in the country. Plus, it’s not entirely out of the possibility more games on Texas’ schedule could become Quadrant 1 or Quadrant 2 games as the season goes on. Ten of the 14 teams in the league are in the top 75 of the rankings, which if it holds means those could become Quadrant 1 wins for opponents. Twelve of the 14 teams are in the top 100.

But the Longhorns have work to do to bolster their NCAA tournament resume. NET is what the committee is going to look at, not the No. 36 ranking in KenPom nor the No. 19 ranking in the AP Poll.

Even with the No. 64 standing, Texas is viewed as a team safely in the tournament by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. In his most recent bracketology update, Lunardi had the Longhorns as a No. 8 seed facing Florida in the West region paired with projected top overall seed Arizona.

[Subscribe to the brand new Inside Texas YouTube channel!]

But a lot can change for the Longhorns, including for the better. It’ll have to be that way to move up in the all-important NET rankings.

The post Texas has some work to do in NET, but bracketology likes where the Horns could go appeared first on On3.