If the NCAA’s new NET evaluation tool is any indication, the Arizona Wildcats are in line for an NCAA Tournament berth.
Intended to replace the RPI as a sorting tool for evaluating NCAA Tournament qualifications, the NET placed Arizona (4-2) at No. 33 overall when it was released Monday for the first time this season — a full 35 spots better than Arizona’s No. 68 RPI is as of now.
However, the NET held mostly bad news for the rest of the Pac-12: ASU was highest at No. 28 and after the UA, only Oregon (39) was safely in range of what usually ensures an at-large tournament bid.
Of course, it’s wildly early in the season and the NET is mostly intended to be a grouping tool, not the final measurement used by the NCAA selection committee.
A team’s NET rating will determine which quadrant an opponent will be credited for in a win or loss: Top-tier Quadrant 1 games, for example, are home games played against teams 1-30 in the NET ratings, neutral games against teams 1-50 and road games against teams 1-75.
Therefore, as of now, Gonzaga and Auburn both hold Quadrant 1 wins for their wins over Arizona last week, since those games were played on the neutral court of the Maui Invitational. The Wildcats picked up a Quadrant 1 win over Iowa State, because the Cyclones are rated No. 32 and that game was also in Maui.
So currently, Arizona is 1-2 in Quadrant 1 games, 0-0 in Quadrant 2 games, 1-0 in Quadrant 3 (Houston Baptist has a NET of 147 after beating Wake Forest) and 2-0 in the lowest-level Quadrant 4 games (UTEP is 307 and Cal Poly is 304).
The NET rating is comprised of four factors, only three of which are transparent: A team’s net efficiency, winning percentage and adjusted winning percentage. The fourth factor, known as “Team Value Index,” is an opaque algorithm involving results, opponent and location.
As of now, the UA’s net efficiency (as measured by Kenpom) is 11.2, its winning percentage is .667 and the Wildcats have an “adjusted” won-loss percentage of .583. Under the adjusted formula, homecourt wins or road losses are weighted at 0.6 each instead of 1.0, while neutral games are 1.0 whether won or lost, and road wins and home losses carry a factor of 1.4.
ASU just misses top 25
After winning the Main Event tournament in Las Vegas last week to move to 5-0, ASU finished 26th among vote-getters in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday.
Oddly, the team that beat out the Sun Devils out for the 25th and final spot, Mississippi State, lost to ASU 72-67 in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga took over the top spot after beating Duke to win the Maui Invitational. The Pac-12 was left with only Oregon in the AP Top 25 poll after UCLA dropped out after losing to Michigan State and North Carolina, while Arizona did not receive any votes for the second straight week.
Dort wins Pac-12 honor
ASU freshman guard Luguentz Dort won the Pac-12 Player of the Week award Monday after averaging 25 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals during the Main Event.
The UA nominated Justin Coleman, who averaged 20.7 points and 3.0 assists over three Maui Invitational games.
Opponents in action
Arizona’s two next opponents will be playing Tuesday in games that will be streamed at 5 p.m. Tucson time.
Georgia Southern (5-0), which will visit McKale Center on Thursday, will face ETSU on ESPN Plus. UConn (5-1), which will host UA in Hartford on Sunday, will face Massachusetts-Lowell on ESPN3.
