Kentucky now Top 10 in the NET Rankings; Updated Team Sheet

Kentucky’s loss at Auburn did not damage its NCAA Tournament resume. The Cats are No. 9 in the latest NET Rankings, up two spots from a week ago. That’s their highest standing yet. The Tigers, who are likely to take the No. 1 spot in the AP and Coaches Poll today, are No. 5. Kentucky is now ahead of LSU, which is riding a three-game losing streak.

Before we get into Kentucky’s team sheet and what’s up for grabs this week, here’s a look at the current NET Rankings.

NET Top 25 – Through Jan. 23

1. Arizona
2. Gonzaga
3. Houston
4. Baylor
5. Auburn
6. Villanova
7. Kansas
8. Purdue
9. Kentucky
10. LSU
11. Tennessee
12. Duke
13. Illinois
14. Texas Tech
15. UConn
16. UCLA
17. Texas
18. Michigan STate
19. Xavier
20. Alabama
21. Wisconsin
22. Iowa
23. Ohio State
24. Southern Cal
25. BYU

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 Team Sheet

Kentucky’s win at Texas A&M and loss at Auburn takes the Cats’ Quad 1 record to 2-4. North Carolina fell to No. 51 in the NET after losses to Miami and Wake Forest, which sends the win in the CBS Sports Classic to Quad 2. Notre Dame is still in the NET Top 75, keeping the loss in South Bend in Quad 1 (for now), meaning Kentucky doesn’t have losses in Quads 2-4, a very good thing.

The Cats have two good opportunities this week. Tuesday night’s game vs. Mississippi State is in Quad 2 and Saturday’s showdown with Kansas is in Quad 1. Per the NET, the game vs. the Jayhawks is the second “biggest” on the schedule.

Quad 1: 2-4

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

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	In Conference?	Result
5	01/22/2022	@ Auburn	Y	L 71-80
7	01/29/2022	@ Kansas
10	01/04/2022	@ LSU	Y	L 60-65
10	02/23/2022	LSU	Y
11	02/15/2022	@ Tennessee	Y
11	01/15/2022	Tennessee	Y	W 107-79
12	11/09/2021	Duke (@ New York, NY)		L 71-79
20	02/05/2022	@ Alabama	Y
20	02/19/2022	Alabama	Y
23	12/18/2021	Ohio St. (@ Las Vegas, NV)		Canceled
34	03/05/2022	@ Florida	Y
55	02/26/2022	@ Arkansas	Y
61	01/19/2022	@ Texas A&M	Y	W 64-58
72	12/11/2021	@ Notre Dame		L 62-66

Quad 2: 2-0

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

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	In Conference?	Result
34	02/12/2022	Florida	Y
45	01/25/2022	Mississippi St.	Y
51	12/18/2021	North Carolina (@ Las Vegas, NV)		W 98-69
86	01/11/2022	@ Vanderbilt	Y	W 78-66
108	02/08/2022	@ South Carolina	Y

Quad 3: 2-0

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

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	In Conference?	Result
84	11/19/2021	Ohio		W 77-59
86	02/02/2022	Vanderbilt	Y
113	12/22/2021	Louisville		Ppd
134	03/01/2022	Ole Miss	Y
138	12/22/2021	Western Ky.		W 95-60

Quad 4: 9-0

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

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	In Conference?	Result
167	12/29/2021	Missouri	Y	W 83-56
188	12/07/2021	Southern U.		W 76-64
232	01/08/2022	Georgia	Y	W 92-77
274	11/16/2021	Mount St. Mary’s		W 80-55
286	11/22/2021	Albany (NY)		W 86-61
289	12/31/2021	High Point		W 92-48
320	11/26/2021	North Florida		W 86-52
328	11/12/2021	Robert Morris		W 100-60
342	11/29/2021	Central Mich.		W 85-57