Florida holds top-10 spot in NET rankings after South Carolina win
· Yahoo Sports
A Quadrant 3 win over South Carolina on Tuesday did not affect Florida's NET ranking status, but that also means the Gators (20-6, 11-2) avoided a significant loss with the postseason just a few weeks away. The Orange and Blue remain at No. 9 on the NET.
Florida is now riding a six-game win streak with all but one (vs. Kentucky) coming by a double-digit margin. Although the Gators failed to blow out the Gamecocks this time around (they won by 40-plus last time), the win was never in doubt.
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The Gators are the only SEC team ranked inside the top 10 on the NET, with Vanderbilt being the next closest at No. 15. Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama control the Nos. 18-20 spots, respectively.
Florida has three remaining regular-season games against Quadrant 1 teams, one Quadrant 3 matchup and a Quadrant 2 game. Saturday's contest is the Q2 game, against Ole Miss. A win might not result in movement, but other outcomes across the country could.
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: 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
Quadrant 1 Games
Florida is 8-5 in Quadrant 1 games. The Gators are tied with Kansas, Louisville and Purdue for the second-most Quadrant 1 games played this season (13). Auburn and Texas Tech have each played one more Q1 game (14).
Non-conference losses came against No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Arizona and No. 10 UConn. All three are considered very good losses. The Gators' non-conference Q1 win came against No. 37 Miami at a neutral site (Jacksonville), and UF lost to No. 47 TCU. The Hurricanes are firmly in Quadrant 1, while the Horned Frogs recently moved back within the top-50 threshold.
Several of Florida's SEC games have come against Q1 opponents. The Missouri (No. 59) loss on the road remains in Quadrant 1, which is good for the Gators, but Auburn is just outside of the top 30, dropping out of Q1 territory. The Q1 conference wins came against No. 15 Vanderbilt (road), No. 19 Tennessee (home), No. 20 Alabama (home), No. 39 Georgia (road), No. 43 Texas A&M (road) and No. 68 Oklahoma (road). The most recent came against No. 30 Kentucky at home, which is just within the threshold.
Quadrant 2 Games
In Quadrant 2 games, Florida is 5-1, with wins over No. 39 Georgia, No. 66 LSU — both at home — and at No. 111 South Carolina during conference play. The other two Q2 wins came during the non-conference schedule against No. 83 Providence and No. 88 George Washington, both at a neutral site.
Florida's lone Quadrant 2 losses came against No. 34 Auburn. The Tigers continue to drift further from returning to Q1 territory.
Quadrant 3 and 4 games
The only Quadrant 3 game Florida played in the non-conference schedule was a home game against No. 84 Florida State. The Seminoles have performed well in conference play, jumping more than 50 spots in the NET. The Seminoles are nine spots away from the No. 75 threshold required to reach Q2.
Florida's most recent win, against No. 111 South Carolina at home, is the second Quadrant 3 game of the year because of the location.
Florida went 5-0 against Q4 teams, beating No. 184 Merrimack, No. 209 Colgate, No. 250 Dartmouth, No. 337 North Florida and No. 353 Saint Francis by an average of 33.6 points. Merrimack is the only one near the Quadrant 3 threshold of No. 160.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball's NET rankings after beating South Carolina