Where Memphis basketball falls in first NCAA NET rankings and what it means

Jason Munz, Memphis Commercial Appeal

The NCAA released the first NET rankings of the 2023-24 season on Monday, and Memphis basketball comes in at No. 71.

The Tigers (5-2) started the season strong but have lost back-to-back games to Villanova and Ole Miss. Penny Hardaway's team plays next at VCU (4-4) on Wednesday (6 p.m., ESPNU).

The NET (NCAA evaluation tool) is widely considered to be the chief metric to help the NCAA tournament selection committee inform its selection and seeding decisions in March. It replaced RPI (ratings power index) after the 2018-19 season.

One of the primary components of the NET is the quadrant system, which is used to determine a team's quality of wins and losses. All of Division I is divided into four quadrants, with Quad 1 recognized as the highest value opportunities. A game's location and the opponent's NET ranking are given the most weight.

The NET rankings fluctuate (sometimes considerably) all season.

Here is a breakdown of the NET's quadrant system:

  • 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

Memphis basketball NET breakdown

The Tigers are 0-1 versus Quad 1 teams (Villanova, No. 50) so far this season.

Ole Miss is currently ranked 90th in the NET, which makes last week's loss in Oxford, Miss., a Quad 2 setback.

Memphis has two Quad 2 victories: at Missouri (No. 114) and a neutral-site game versus Michigan (No. 89). Arkansas comes in this week at No. 117, which makes the Tigers' neutral-site win over the SEC program a Quad 3 win presently.

Given the strength of those teams' schedules, there is a decent chance they elevate to Quad 1 and Quad 2 games for Memphis.

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Memphis basketball's immediate NET outlook

The Tigers can make up a significant amount of ground soon.

While VCU on the road represents a high Quad 3 opportunity this week, a road matchup against Texas A&M (15th in this week's NET) on Sunday (3:30 p.m., ESPN2) is a chance for Memphis to grab a high Quad 1 win.

The Tigers also have home games this month against Clemson (2 p.m., Dec. 16) and Virginia (6 p.m., Dec. 19) that are currently Quad 1 opportunities. Clemson is No. 18 in this week's NET, while Virginia is No. 27.

Those games are very important for Memphis since the chances to pick up statement victories in AAC play are rare. Florida Atlantic (No. 11) is the only conference team ranked inside the top 50. Tulane is 66th, SMU is 84th and Wichita State is 88th. No other AAC team is inside the top 100 this week. North Texas and Charlotte sit at Nos. 104 and 111, respectively, this week.

The rest of the AAC teams on Memphis' schedule (and their current NET rankings) are as follows: Temple (No. 171), Tulsa (No. 178), UAB (No. 235), East Carolina (No. 264), South Florida (No. 273), Rice (No. 274), and UTSA (No. 303).

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Where Memphis basketball falls in first NCAA NET rankings

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