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Florida basketball (9-4) is ranked No. 25 overall in the NET heading into conference play.
The Gators capped off non-conference play with a 22-point win over Dartmouth on Monday, but still dropped three spots in the rankings as a result of other finishes around the NCAA. Florida has stayed inside the 20s throughout the month after debuting at No. 33 on Dec. 1.
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Florida kicks off conference play on Saturday at Missouri. As of now, all but two of the Orange and Blue's 18 remaining contests are of the Quadrant 1 and 2 variety. With a 1-4 record against Quadrant 1 teams, a couple of big wins in SEC play could catapult the Gators up the NET.
It’s important to remember that while they are called “rankings,” the NET is an evaluation tool at heart — that’s what the E and T stand for. It’s a sorting tool for the selection committee to use when close decisions are needed come bracket time.
Breaking down Florida’s wins by Quadrant
Before going into Florida’s resume, it’s important to understand how the quadrants are divided. Where a game is played has as much to do with the quadrant as the quality of the opponent. As the rankings change, so does the quality of the wins.
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Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
Florida is 1-4 in Quadrant 1 games, with losses to No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 Duke, No. 8 UConn and No. 50 TCU. The Arizona loss looked bad when it happened, but the Wildcats have emerged as one of the best teams in the country. The TCU loss was originally a Quadrant 2 loss, but the Horned Frogs have leaped into Q1 territory by crossing the No. 50 threshold; however, a one-spot drop would move it back to Q2.
The Gators' lone Q1 win came against No. 37 Miami at a neutral site in Jacksonville. The Hurricanes remain firmly in the middle of Q1 territory, although they continue to move closer to the threshold between Q1 and Q1 — No. 50.
In Quadrant 2 games, Florida is 2-0, with wins over No. 79 George Washington and No. 98 Providence, both at a neutral site. Providence is toeing the line between Q2 and Q3. The threshold is No. 100, so there's little room for error.
The only Quadrant 3 game Florida has played in so far was a home game against No. 126 Florida State. The Seminoles would need to climb all the way to the top 75 for that win to become a Q2 victory. Instead, FSU has slowly dropped in the NET, making the loss look worse and worse. If Florida State falls below No. 160, it becomes a Q4 win.
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Florida is 5-0 against Q4 teams, beating No. 181 Colgate, No. 250 Dartmouth, No. 255 Merrimack, No. 340 North Florida and No. 357 Saint Francis by an average of 33.6 points. The only one of those that could improve to Quadrant 3 status is Colgate, which was a Q3 matchup going into the game. Colgate needs to move back inside the top 160 for that change to occur.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators basketball NET rankings: December 31
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