Kentucky No. 39 in the first NET Rankings of the season

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…the NET Rankings are back! This morning, the first edition of the NET Rankings, the NCAA’s primary sorting tool for evaluating teams for the tournament, of the 2021-22 season dropped. As you might expect, the NET is not impressed by Kentucky’s schedule thus far. The Cats are No. 39 in the initial rankings, which is behind five SEC teams: LSU (2), Tennessee (11), Alabama (15), Auburn (16), and Florida (22). Thankfully, there’s plenty of room for growth. Let’s dive in.

NET Top 25 – December 5

1. Purdue
2. LSU
3. Arizona
4. Houston
5. Villanova
6. Baylor
7. Southern California
8. Gonzaga
9. Iowa
10. Duke
11. Tennessee
12. Wyoming
13. UConn
14. Kansas
15. Alabama
16. Auburn
17. Texas
18. Wisconsin
19. Michigan State
20. Iowa State
21. Seton Hall
22. Florida
23. Wagner
24. BYU
25. Loyola Chicago

NET changes for the 2021-22 season

This is the fourth season the NCAA has used the NET Rankings as its primary metric to evaluate the strength of teams’ wins and losses. This year, the formula has been tweaked. From now on, the NET will only use two components, adjusted net efficiency rating and Team Value Index (TVI), which is a result-based feature that rewards teams for beating quality opponents, particularly away from home. Win percentage, adjusted win percentage, and scoring margin are no longer used in the NET rankings.

Kentucky’s First Team Sheet

Why is Kentucky so low? Look no further than the schedule. Thus far, Kentucky’s average opponent’s NET ranking is 249. For perspective, there are 358 teams in Division I. So, not great. The Cats have only played one Quad 1 game, vs. Duke, and FIVE Quad 4 games. Kentucky’s most impressive win, vs. Ohio, is in Quad 3.

That’s about to change. As you can see below, the Cats have plenty of chances to improve their standing. The game vs. Ohio State on Dec. 18 is Kentucky’s next Quad 1 opportunity. Tomorrow night’s game vs. Southern is Quad 4, Saturday’s game at Notre Dame Quad 3. The SEC schedule is riddled with Quad 1 games.

Here’s a look at the Team Sheet:

Quad 1: 0-1

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

NET Rank	Date	Opponent	In Conference	Result
2	01/04/2022	@ LSU	Y
2	02/23/2022	LSU	Y
10	11/09/2021	Duke (@ New York, NY)		L 71-79
11	02/15/2022	@ Tennessee	Y
11	01/15/2022	Tennessee	Y
14	01/29/2022	@ Kansas
15	02/05/2022	@ Alabama	Y
15	02/19/2022	Alabama	Y
16	01/22/2022	@ Auburn	Y
22	03/05/2022	@ Florida	Y
22	02/12/2022	Florida	Y
28	12/18/2021	Ohio State (@ Las Vegas, NV)
44	02/26/2022	@ Arkansas	Y
58	01/19/2022	@ Texas A&M	Y

Quad 2: 0-0

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

NET Rank	Date	Opponent	In Conference	Result
49	01/25/2022	Mississippi St.	Y
53	12/22/2021	Louisville
84	01/11/2022	@ Vanderbilt	Y
122	02/08/2022	@ South Carolina	Y

Quad 3: 1-0

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

NET Rank	Date	Opponent	In Conference	Result
84	02/02/2022	Vanderbilt	Y
86	11/19/2021	Ohio		W 77-59
126	03/01/2022	Ole Miss	Y
157	12/11/2021	@ Notre Dame

Quad 4: 5-0

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

NET Rank	Date	Opponent	In Conference	Result
208	01/08/2022	Georgia	Y
255	12/07/2021	Southern U.
270	12/31/2021	High Point
278	12/29/2021	Missouri	Y
307	11/16/2021	Mount St. Mary’s		W 80-55
329	11/26/2021	North Florida		W 86-52
334	11/12/2021	Robert Morris		W 100-60
335	11/22/2021	Albany (NY)		W 86-61
345	11/29/2021	Central Mich.		W 85-57