Florida basketball (15-6, 6-2) reached a new season-high at No. 12 on the NCAA NET rankings after a 47-point win over South Carolina on Wednesday.
The Gators leapfrogged Vanderbilt, BYU and Kansas overnight, but there’s no clear-cut reason for the jump. Winning a conference game on the road is always good, but it doesn’t usually translate into a three-spot rise in the NET, at least not after a Quadrant 2 win. Vanderbilt won yesterday, and Kansas didn’t play, so there’s no great explanation. The good news is BYU and Kansas play on Saturday, which should benefit Florida.
The Gators finish January 6-2 with both losses being of the Quadrant 1 variety — at No. 73 Missouri and vs. No. 28 Auburn. Florida has three straight Q1 matchups to open February. The Gators are at home on Sunday vs. No. 20 Alabama, then travel to No. 40 Texas A&M (Feb. 7) and No. 34 Georgia (Feb. 11). No. 33 Kentucky could very well be a Quadrant 1 team by the time Florida hosts them on Valentine’s Day.
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 does the quality of the wins.
Quadrant 1 Games
Florida is 4-6 in Quadrant 1 games through January.
Non-conference losses came against No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 Duke, No. 8 UConn and No. 46 TCU. Those first three are considered very good losses, but they do give Florida a narrow path to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The TCU loss was originally a Quadrant 2 loss, but the Horned Frogs have leaped into Q1 territory and have held inside the top 50 steadily.
The Gators’ lone non-conference Q1 win came against No. 36 Miami at a neutral site (Jacksonville). The Hurricanes are firmly in Quadrant 1.
Florida’s first five SEC games came against a Q1 opponent. After falling to No. 73 Missouri, Florida rattled off four wins over No. 13 Vanderbilt, No. 23 Tennessee, No. 34 Georgia, and No. 75 Oklahoma, boosting its resume. Because the Georgia game was at home, the Bulldogs have since dropped to a Q2 opponent. Missouri has bounced back and forth between Q1 and Q2 recently, but currently sits inside Q1.
Quadrant 2 Games
In Quadrant 2 games, Florida is 5-0, including Wednesday’s win over South Carolina. Georgia and LSU are the other SEC Q2 wins, with the Bulldogs ranked No. 34 and the Tigers ranked No. 46. Both clubs need to get back inside the top 30 to reach Quadrant 1 status. Neither is particularly close to Quadrant 3 status.
Florida’s other Q2 wins came against No. 68 George Washington and No. 87 Providence, both at a neutral site during the non-conference schedule.
Quadrant 3 and 4 games
The only Quadrant 3 game Florida has played in so far was a home game against No. 107 Florida State. The Seminoles have trended down most of the season but recently climbed more than 30 spots in the NET. The Seminoles still need to get to No. 75 to reach Q2.
Florida went 5-0 against Q4 teams, beating No. 199 Colgate, No. 214 Merrimack, No. 230 Dartmouth, No. 341 North Florida and No. 348 Saint Francis by an average of 33.6 points. None of these teams are likely to break into Quadrant 3 territory.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida approaching top 10 in NET rankings after crushing USC
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
