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Kentucky ranks outside top 60 in new NCAA Tournament metric used by selection committee
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College basketball’s newest rating metric hasn’t been too impressed by Kentucky basketball so far.
The Wildcats debuted at No. 61 in the first-ever NET rankings, the new metric replacing RPI as the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s method of evaluating teams. According to the NCAA’s official website, the NCAA Evaluation Tool “relies on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.”
Kentucky is 10th in the AP Top 25 and sports a 5-1 record, but the current NET rankings view the Wildcats as a bubble team when it comes to the tournament. Kentucky’s season-opening blowout loss to Duke likely harms it the most, and the metric probably doesn’t look favorably on the rest of the Wildcats’s schedule so far.
Auburn is the highest-ranked SEC team in NET rankings at No. 16, while Tennessee follows up at No. 27. After Arkansas (53rd) and Kentucky, the rest of the league ranks 66th or worse. South Carolina is the lowest-ranked SEC squad at No. 162.
The good news for Kentucky and the rest of the conference is that they have plenty of time to improve their NET ratings, especially once SEC play starts.
Marcus covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
