Minnesota crawls into NET rankings top 100 after win over Penn State

Eight games remain in the regular season and they're all Quad 1 and 2 opportunities.

Feb 4, 2025; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) dribbles the ball up the court as Penn State Nittany Lions guard Freddie Dilione V (4) defends during the second half at Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State 69-61. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

It ain't over til it's over and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, while still being a long shot to make the NCAA Tournament, picked up a big Quad 1 win on the road against Penn State Tuesday night.

The victory moved them up six spots in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, which are the No. 1 source for choosing which teams receive at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. The rankings are based on wins and losses in Quads 1-4

Minnesota is 3-7 in Quad 1 games, 2-2 in Quad 2, 2-1 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4. If that puts them at No. 95, imagine where they would be if they hadn't lost nail-biters to North Texas, Wichita State, Wake Forest, Ohio State and Washington.

What if the Gophers were 4-6 in Quad 1 and undefeated in Quads 3 and 4? That sounds a bit like Oklahoma. The Sooners are 16-6 overall and No. 38 in the NET rankings. They're 4-6 in Quad 1 games; 2-0 in Quad 2; 3-0 in Quad 3; and 7-0 in Quad 4.

The Ohio State loss would've been a Quad 1 win. Losses to North Texas and Wake Forest were Quad 2 opportunities. The Wichita State and Washington losses really sting because they qualified as Quad 3 games.

It's clear that while Quad 1 wins are important, it's arguably more important to dominate Quads 2-4. Minnesota has three Quad 1 wins but they still find themselves barely in the top 100 because of those three losses in Quads 2 and 3.

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Example 1: Wake Forest is 68th in the NET rankings even though they're 1-6 in Quad 1 games. They did the work by going 5-0 in Quad 2 and undefeated in Quads 3 and 4.

Example 2: North Carolina is 13-10 overall and 1-9 in Quad 1 games. But they're 45th in the NET rankings, largely due to being 4-1 in Quad 2 and a combined 8-0 in Quads 3 and 4.

The Gophers might not be good enough to make the NCAA Tournament this season, but they still have eight games left to improve their standing. Five of the remaining games are Quad 1 opportunities and three are Quad 2.

The biggest opportunity is Saturday at Williams Arena against Illinois. The Fighting Illini are No. 12 in the NET rankings, and a win for Minnesota could yield a significant jump in the NET.