Kentucky up to No. 7 in the NET Rankings; Updated Team Sheet

Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament resume got a big boost with the win at Kansas. The Cats are now No. 7 in the NET Rankings, up two spots from a week ago. That’s their highest standing yet. Auburn is right above them at No. 6. Kansas is down to No. 9.

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 – Jan. 31

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

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

It was a good week for Kentucky’s team sheet. The 80-62 shellacking of the No. 5 Jayhawks was a big Quad 1 win. North Carolina is back in the NET Top 50, which moves the Cats’ win over the Tar Heels back to Quad 1. Kentucky’s Quad 1 record is now 4-4. Shoutout to Notre Dame; the Fighting Irish are No. 68 in the NET, which means the loss in South Bend continues to stay in Quad 1. Zero losses in Quads 2-4 should impress the Selection Committee come seeding time. (Thank goodness the Cats pulled off the overtime win vs. Mississippi State Tuesday night.)

Kentucky can make its Quad 1 record even better this week with a win at Alabama (NET No. 22). Wednesday night’s game vs. Vanderbilt is in Quad 3.

Quad 1: 4-4

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

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	In Conference?	Result
6	01/22/2022	@ Auburn	Y	L 71-80
9	01/29/2022	@ Kansas		W 80-62
12	02/15/2022	@ Tennessee	Y
12	01/15/2022	Tennessee	Y	W 107-79
13	11/09/2021	Duke (@ New York, NY)		L 71-79
14	01/04/2022	@ LSU	Y	L 60-65
14	02/23/2022	LSU	Y
19	12/18/2021	Ohio St. (@ Las Vegas, NV)		Canceled
22	02/05/2022	@ Alabama	Y
22	02/19/2022	Alabama	Y
37	12/18/2021	North Carolina (@ Las Vegas, NV)		W 98-69
41	03/05/2022	@ Florida	Y
46	02/26/2022	@ Arkansas	Y
65	01/19/2022	@ Texas A&M	Y	W 64-58
68	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
41	02/12/2022	Florida	Y
50	01/25/2022	Mississippi St.	Y	W 82-74 (1 OT)
90	01/11/2022	@ Vanderbilt	Y	W 78-66
97	02/08/2022	@ South Carolina	Y

Quad 3: 3-0

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

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	In Conference?	Result
77	11/19/2021	Ohio		W 77-59
90	02/02/2022	Vanderbilt	Y
116	03/01/2022	Ole Miss	Y
121	12/22/2021	Louisville		Ppd
157	12/22/2021	Western Ky.		W 95-60
160	12/29/2021	Missouri	Y	W 83-56

Quad 4: 8-0

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

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	In Conference?	Result
194	12/07/2021	Southern U.		W 76-64
213	01/08/2022	Georgia	Y	W 92-77
255	11/16/2021	Mount St. Mary’s		W 80-55
270	12/31/2021	High Point		W 92-48
272	11/22/2021	Albany (NY)		W 86-61
316	11/26/2021	North Florida		W 86-52
318	11/12/2021	Robert Morris		W 100-60
332	11/29/2021	Central Mich.		W 85-57