Kentucky's Team Sheet compared to other potential No. 1 seeds

The regular season is over and Kentucky is still in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With Selection Sunday less than a week away, let’s break down the Cats’ team sheet and discuss how they can make it look even better in the SEC Tournament.

If you’re not familiar with team sheets, they’re what the Selection Committee uses to pick and seed teams in the NCAA Tournament. Wins are sorted into four quadrants using the opponent’s NET ranking:

• Quadrant 1: Home Game 1-30; Neutral Site 1-50; Away Game 1-75
• Quadrant 2: Home Game 31-75; Neutral Site 51-100; Away Game 76-135
• Quadrant 3: Home Game 76-160; Neutral Site 101-200; Away Game 136-240
• Quadrant 4: Home Game 161-plus; Neutral Site 201-plus; Away Game 241-plus

On the team sheet, the opponent’s NET ranking is listed on the left, followed by the site of the game (home/neutral/away), the name of the opponent, and the result. Quadrant 1 is obviously the most important, but losses in Quadrants 2-4 can be resume killers.

Recently, the NCAA started making the team sheets even more specific, breaking Quadrants 1 and 2 into two parts to better organize games. As you can see, this shows how much more important away and neutral site wins are than home wins, and the opposite for losses.

Here’s Kentucky’s team sheet through yesterday’s games:

Quick thoughts

— Remember me saying Kentucky had the most Quadrant 1 wins of any team in college basketball on Friday? At the time, that was true; however, Missouri fell two spots in the NET rankings, putting that win back in the Quad 2 column. Kentucky is back to ten Quad 1 wins, tied with Kansas for second most in the country behind Virginia and Michigan State, who both have eleven.

— After rising to No. 4 in yesterday’s NET rankings, Kentucky is back at No. 5 behind 1) Gonzaga, 2) Virginia, 3) Duke, and 4) Houston.

— Three teams to cheer for in hopes it will boost their game vs. Kentucky to Quad 1: 33. Florida (needs to move up three spots), 62. Seton Hall (needs to move up 12 spots), and 77. Missouri (needs to move up two spots). Florida plays Arkansas on Thursday for the chance to play LSU, Seton Hall could face Marquette in the Big East Semifinals on Friday and Villanova on Saturday, and if Missouri takes care of Georgia, will face Auburn on Thursday.

Examining the other potential No. 1 seeds

Right now, Virginia and Gonzaga are the two teams have pretty much locked down a No. 1 seed. Which teams will get the other two? Right now, it’s a four-way race between Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina. All four will likely square off in the SEC and ACC Semifinals, making the Selection Committee’s job a lot easier. Here’s how their resumes stack up against each other right now:

Kentucky

• NET Ranking: No. 5
• Quadrant 1 record: 10-4
• Average Opponent NET Rank (wins-losses): 101-28
• Potential Quadrant 1 games remaining (Top 50 opponents): Three
  • SEC Quarterfinals vs. Ole Miss
  • SEC Semifinals vs. Tennessee or Mississippi State
  • SEC Championship vs. LSU, Auburn, or Florida

Duke

• NET Ranking: No. 3
• Quadrant 1 record: 8-4
• Average Opponent NET Rank (wins-losses): 85-13
• Potential Quadrant 1 games remaining (Top 50 opponents in neutral location): Three
  • ACC Quarterfinals vs. Syracuse
  • ACC Semifinals vs. North Carolina or Louisville
  • ACC Championship vs. Virginia, Florida State, Virginia Tech, NC State, or Clemson

North Carolina

• NET Ranking: No. 7
• Quadrant 1 record: 9-5
• Average Opponent NET Rank (wins-losses): 87-19
• Potential Quadrant 1 games remaining (Top 50 opponents): Three
  • ACC Quarterfinals vs. Louisville
  • ACC Semifinals vs. Duke or Syracuse
  • ACC Championship vs. Virginia, Florida State, Virginia Tech, NC State, or Clemson

Tennessee

• NET Ranking: No. 6
• Quadrant 1 record: 7-4
• Average Opponent NET Rank (wins-losses): 94-36
• Potential Quadrant 1 games remaining (Top 50 opponents): Three
  • SEC Quarterfinals vs. Mississippi State
  • SEC Semifinals vs. Kentucky or Ole Miss
  • SEC Championship vs. LSU, Auburn, or Florida

So, if you’re hoping for the ultimate resume boost to secure a No. 1 seed, maybe even in Louisville, here’s the path to root for: SEC Quarterfinals vs. Ole Miss, SEC Semifinals vs. Tennessee, SEC Championship vs. LSU. Let’s do it.

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