Cal Basketball: Where Do Bears Reside Among In-State Teams in the NET Rankings?
The state of California is home to 26 Division I men’s basketball teams from six conferences and two of them are actually having worse seasons than the Cal Golden Bears. At least according to the computer ratings.
Cal resides at No. 288 in the NCAA's latest NET computer rankings of the country’s 363 Division I programs. That is by far the lowest among any Pac-12 team or any of the six DI teams in the Bay Area.
The Bears are 3-17 overall and tied for last in the Pac-12 at 2-7. They play at Stanford (8-12, 2-7) on Saturday with designs on escaping the conference basement.
But two California teams are below them in the NET rankings: Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Northridge (CSUN), both of the Big West Conference.
Bakersfield is 6-13 overall, although that includes victories over non-Division I foes La Sierra and Whittier. The Roadrunners are 2-6 in the Big West, tied for eighth in an 11-team league.
CSUN is 4-16, including wins over non-DI opponents San Diego Christian and La Sierra. The Matadors are alone at the bottom of the Big West standings at 1-8.
Eight of the 26 in-state teams are ranked among the top-100 by the NET, led by UCLA at No. 5 and Saint Mary’s at No. 6. San Diego State, at No. 28, is the only other Golden State program in the top-50.
Cal's three victories this season have come over Texas-Arlington (No. 297), Colorado (No. 64) and Stanford (No. 125). The Bears are winless in seven games away from home and are 2-7 in Quad 3 or Quad 4 games, where the opponent and circumstances are viewed as the least challenging.
This is the fifth year the NET rankings — the NCAA Evaluation Tool — have been employed to assist the NCAA Tournament selection committee in assessing a team’s resume.
The NET replaced the RPI as a significant evaluation tool. It includes strength of schedule, game location, and net offensive and defensive efficiency. Scoring margin was originally part of the equation but was eliminated when the formula was tweaked in 2020.
Here’s a more detailed explanation of the NET, how it was created, what factors it uses and how it differs from the RPI.
NET RANKINGS OF THE 26 DIVISION TEAMS IN CALIFORNIA
With conference affiliation in parenthesis and overall win-loss record
5. UCLA (Pac-12) 17-3
6. Saint Mary’s (WCC) 18-4
28. San Diego State (Mountain West) 16-4
62. USC (Pac-12) 14-6
79. Santa Clara (WCC) 16-6
.
87. UC Santa Barbara (Big West) 16-3
88. Loyola Marymount (WCC) 14-7
93. UC Irvine (Big West) 13-6
107. San Jose State (Mountain West) 13-8
112. USF (WCC) 14-9
.
125. Stanford (Pac-12) 8-12
140. Cal Baptist (WAC) 13-8
147. UC Riverside (Big West) 14-7
156. UC Davis (Big West) 12-8
162. Long Beach State (Big West) 10-10
.
176. Cal State Fullerton (Big West) 10-11
180. Fresno State (Mountain West) 7-12
187. Pepperdine (WCC) 7-14
195. Sacramento State (Big Sky) 11-9
221. San Diego (WCC) 9-12
.
224. Pacific (WCC) 10-12
277. UC San Diego (Big West) 7-13
279. Cal Poly (Big West) 7-13
288. Cal (Pac-12) 3-17
313. Cal State Bakersfield (Big West) 6-13
329. Cal State Northridge (Big West) 4-16
Cover photo of Cal coach Mark Fox by Darren Yamashita, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
