Florida basketball (25-6, 16-2) ends the regular season ranked No. 4 on the NET, a position the Gators have held since Feb. 28 following a win over Arkansas.
The Orange and Blue started at No. 33 in the initial NET rankings at the end of November and slowly climbed into the top 10 by early February. Two of Florida’s six losses have come against top-three programs, and three have come against top-10 programs.
Florida finished the season on an 11-game win streak and won 16 of its last 17 games. The Gators’ 16-2 conference record is the second best in program history, behind only the 2013-2014 Final Four squad.
The Gators are the only SEC team ranked inside the top 15, with Vanderbilt, Alabama and Arkansas controlling the Nos. 16-18 spots, respectively. Tennessee checks in at No. 21 as the regular season comes to a close.
Florida gets a double bye in the SEC Tournament and doesn’t have to play until Friday. The winner of Kentucky-LSU faces conference No. 8 seed Missouri, and the winner of that game gets Florida in the quarterfinals.
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.
- 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
Quadrant 1 Games
Florida is 11-5 in Quadrant 1 games. The Arizona Wildcats (15-2) and Duke Blue Devils (15-2) are the only two teams with more than 16 Q1 games played over the regular season. Six other teams have played 16, but Florida has the best record of that group, by far.
Non-conference Q1 losses came against No. 1 Duke, No. 3 Arizona and No. 9 UConn. All three are considered very good losses. Florida also lost to No. 40 TCU. The Gators’ lone non-conference Q1 win came against No. 32 Miami at a neutral site (Jacksonville). The Hurricanes and Horned Frogs are both poised to hold Q1 status through their respective conference tournaments.
Florida played 11 Quadrant 1 games during the SEC schedule. It started with a loss to No. 60 Missouri, but the Tigers staying in Q1 makes it look not as bad. The Gators won the other 10 Quadrant 1 games in conference play, with wins against No. 16 Vanderbilt (road), No. 17 Alabama (home), No. 18 Arkansas (home), No. 21 Tennessee (home), No. 28 Kentucky (both), No. 31 Georgia (road), No. 38 Texas (road), No. 43 Texas A&M (road) and No. 55 Oklahoma (road).
Quadrant 2 Games
In Quadrant 2 games, Florida is 7-1, with non-conference wins over No. 69 Florida State (home), No. 83 Providence (neutral) and No. 89 George Washington (neutral). SEC wins came against No. 31 Georgia and No. 75 LSU at home, and No. 92 Ole Miss and No. 106 South Carolina on the road
Florida’s lone Quadrant 2 loss came against No. 39 Auburn at home.
Quadrant 3 and 4 games
Florida is 2-0 in Quadrant 3 games, with wins over No. 106 South Carolina and No. 111 Mississippi State at home.
Florida went 5-0 against Q4 teams, beating No. 179 Merrimack, No. 223 Colgate, No. 265 Dartmouth, No. 337 North Florida and No. 353 Saint Francis by an average of 33.6 points.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball NET rankings heading into SEC Tournament
