Kentucky debuts at No. 58 in first NET Rankings of the season

The first NET rankings of the 2019-20 basketball season are out and Kentucky comes in at…No. 58.

At 8-1, Kentucky’s sole Quadrant 1 win is vs. Michigan State, which ranks No. 29, and its strength of schedule is 280th. With games vs. Ohio State, the No. 1 team in the NET rankings, and Louisville, No. 8, coming up, there are plenty of opportunities to boost the resume. Utah, Wednesday’s opponent, is ranked No. 54.

The NET top ten:

1. Ohio State
2. Kansas
3. San Diego State
4. Butler
5. Baylor
6. Gonzaga
7. Auburn
8. Louisville
9. Stanford
10. Dayton

SEC teams:

7. Auburn
23. Arkansas
25. Tennessee
26. LSU
46. Ole Miss
58. Kentucky
73. Missouri
76. Georgia
78. Florida
90. Mississippi State
96. Alabama
99. Vanderbilt
145. South Carolina
281. Texas A&M

The NCAA debuted the NET rankings last season to replace the RPI as a sorting tool to seed teams for the NCAA Tournament. The ranking system factors in game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin (capping at 10 points per game), and net offensive and defensive efficiency.

Before you overreact, Kentucky debut at No. 61 in last year’s NET rankings, so not a huge deal. Still, that loss to Evansville (No. 183) hurts.

Check out the complete NET rankings here.