Kentucky No. 82 in NET Rankings; Updated Team Sheet

Kentucky still has major work to do to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive, but Saturday’s win vs. LSU was a good start. After the 82-69 win over the Tigers, the Cats’ NET ranking rose from No. 95 to No. 82, which is ninth best in the SEC:

9. Alabama (13-3)
11. Tennessee (10-3)
23. Missouri (10-2)
26. Florida (8-4)
33. Arkansas (12-4)
35. LSU (10-4)
64. Auburn (9-7)
65. Ole Miss (8-6)
82. Kentucky (5-9)
92. Mississippi State (9-7)
101. Georgia (8-5)
110. South Carolina (3-5)
136. Texas A&M (7-6)
185. Vanderbilt (4-7)

It may be a fruitless exercise at this point, but every Monday from now until Selection Sunday, I will break down Kentucky’s team sheet, which the Selection Committee will use to decide whether or not the Cats deserve an NCAA Tournament bid. This year, the NCAA tweaked the NET formula to focus only on two metrics: Team Value Index, a results-based feature that rewards teams for beating quality opponents, particularly away from home; and efficiency, which is adjusted for strength of opponent and location (home/away/neutral) across all games played. Winning percentage, adjusted winning percentage, and scoring margin are no longer factors. Also, with teams playing home games with limited or no fans, the committee and staff is also studying home-court advantage.

Here is Kentucky’s team sheet as of today, January 25.

Quad 1: 1-4

Home: 1-30, Neutral: 1-50, Away: 1-75

NET Rank	Date	Opponent	Result
9	01/26/2021	@ Alabama
9	01/12/2021	Alabama	L 65-85
10	01/30/2021	Texas
11	02/20/2021	@ Tennessee
11	02/06/2021	Tennessee
19	12/01/2020	Kansas (@ Indianapolis, IN)	L 62-65
23	02/02/2021	@ Missouri
26	01/09/2021	@ Florida	W 76-58
26	02/27/2021	Florida
42	12/26/2020	@ Louisville	L 59-62
64	01/16/2021	@ Auburn	L 59-66
65	03/02/2021	@ Ole Miss

Quad 2: 2-4

Home: 31-75, Neutral: 51-100, Away: 76-135

NET Rank	Date	Opponent	Result
33	02/09/2021	Arkansas
35	01/23/2021	LSU	W 82-69
51	12/19/2020	North Carolina (@ Cleveland, OH)	L 63-75
56	12/06/2020	Georgia Tech (@ Atlanta, GA)	L 62-79
60	11/29/2020	Richmond	L 64-76
64	02/13/2021	Auburn
92	01/02/2021	@ Mississippi St.	W 78-73 (2 OT)
101	01/20/2021	@ Georgia	L 62-63

Quad 3: 0-1

Home: 76-160, Neutral: 101-200, Away: 136-240

NET Rank	Date	Opponent	Result
96	12/12/2020	Notre Dame	L 63-64
110	12/29/2020	South Carolina	Postponed
136	02/23/2021	Texas A&M
185	02/17/2021	@ Vanderbilt

Quad 4: 2-0

Home: 161-357, Neutral: 201-357, Away: 241-357

NET Rank	Date	Opponent	Result
185	01/05/2021	Vanderbilt	W 77-74
191	11/25/2020	Morehead St.	W 81-45
195	12/30/2020	Hartford	Canceled
226	12/15/2020	Detroit Mercy	Canceled

Some notes…

— Unfortunately, LSU’s NET ranking dropped to No. 35, pushing Saturday night’s win to Quad 2. Right now, Kentucky only has one Quad 1 win, at Florida, so we need to root for the Tigers to do well to bump that victory back up.

— Tennessee’s two-game losing streak dropped the Vols from No. 4 in the NET rankings (Jan. 18) to No. 11, which makes tomorrow night’s game at Alabama the biggest prize left on the table. Saturday’s game vs. No. 10 Texas at Rupp Arena is also huge.

— Florida and Ole Miss’ wins last week improved their NET rankings so that the Feb. 26 home game vs. the Gators and the March 2 season finale in Oxford are now in Quad 1. That’s good.

— Eighty-second may not seem that high, but it is Kentucky’s highest spot in the NET rankings this year.

— If you’re curious, Kentucky is ahead of Duke in the rankings. The Blue Devils are now No. 90, one spot below Army, Coach K’s alma mater.

— Kentucky’s current resume is not good, but the Cats have four straight Quad 1 opportunities ahead of them.

• Tomorrow: at Alabama (No. 9)
• Saturday, Jan. 30: vs. Texas (No. 10)
• Tues., Feb. 2: at Missouri (No. 23)
• Sat., Feb 6: vs. Tennessee (No. 11)

Just keep winning.