After beating Wyoming 94-65 on Thursday, Arizona moved from No. 3 to No. 1 in the NCAA's daily NET rankings that were updated Thursday.
Unlike some of the other power ratings, the NET does not have any preseason expectations baked in, so they are entirely based on this season and fluctuate drastically in the opening weeks as a result.
Wyoming entered Thursday's game ranked No. 9 in the NET, so beating the Cowboys was enough to put the Arizona atop Purdue and LSU.
The NET rating is used mostly as a sorting tool for NCAA Tournament seedings, with a team's rating affecting whether its opponent is facing a Quadrant 1-4 opportunity in a particular game. Opponents rated 1-30 in the NET are Quadrant 1 opportunities for teams even when they are playing at home.
Saturday's Arizona-Illinois game will be Quadrant 1 game for both teams.Β Illinois is rated No. 33 in the NET butΒ road games against teams rated 1-75 are classified as Quadrant I.
