UCF Hoops Reaches Highest Position Yet In NCAA Selection Ranking
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The UCF Knights men's basketball team's reputation in the college basketball world has been rising.
Three weeks ago, the Knights debuted at No. 58 in the initial NET rankings for the season. The NET rankings are, as described by CBS Sports, "a ranking system utilized as a sorting tool for NCAA Tournament selection committee that factors in winning percentage, game results, strength of schedule, game location, wins and losses quality and team efficiency."
This week, UCF has vaulted up to No. 33. For comparison, the 2018-19 Knights team that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament finished their non-conference slate ranked No. 46 and peaked at No. 26.
In terms of the Big 12, which ESPN's Joe Lunardi currently ranks as the top conference in college basketball, the Knights are the seventh-highest ranked team, coming in 10 spots behind Texas Tech and nine spots ahead of Baylor.
The Knights' move up to No. 33 was a six-spot jump, coming after not just their win over Florida Gulf Coast, ranked No. 200, but also one of their previous wins aging well. Back on Nov. 14, the Knights traveled to College Station, Texas, and defeated Texas A&M, 86-74. Just this week, the Aggies gained 19 spots to reach No. 64 in this week's NET ranking, which puts it in range to be a Quadrant 1 win.
The NET ranking sorts win and loss quality by classifying every game a team plays into four different quadrants, which are divided by their opponent's NET ranking, with the location of the game determining the NET ranking range of each quadrant. For example, Oklahoma State is ranked No. 53 in the NET rankings, and while the Knights' matchup against the Cowboys in Stillwater is considered a Quadrant 1 game for them, their home match against the Cowboys is a Quadrant 2 game.
With the Aggies' move up into Quadrant 1 territory, that gives the Knights a 1-1 record in such games this season, the other being the Knights' loss to Vanderbilt, which is ranked No. 6.
However, not every non-conference game can be a Quadrant 1 game, and that's where UCF's scheduling really stands out. Take UCF's resume compared to TCU, which both have 1-1 records in Quadrant 1 games:
Quadrant | UCF | TCU |
|---|---|---|
NET Ranking | 33 | 66 |
Quad 1 | 1-1 | 1-1 |
Quad 2 | 0-0 | 1-0 |
Quad 3 | 6-0 | 1-1 |
Quad 4 | 3-0 | 6-1 |
While both the Knights and Horned Frogs have a high-profile win, a majority of UCF's non-conference games were Quadrant 3, while TCU's were mostly Quadrant 4. The Quadrant 3 wins proved to be better resume builders for the Knights, and by limiting their games against Quadrant 4 opponents, there were fewer chances of one getting an upset on them, which happened to Horned Frogs with New Orleans on Nov. 3.
UCF Knights men's basketball coach Johnny Dawkins has said the program has always wanted to play a "challenging" non-conference slate.
"I've lived by that as a coach, and so every year, we try to put together the best schedule we can to make sure our players, you know, when it comes time to transition to conference play, that they've seen a lot of different styles of play, one, and they compete against some teams that are very, very challenging as well," coach Johnny Dawkins said on Dec. 11.
That time to transition into conference play, which consists mostly of Quadrant 1 and 2 games, has almost arrived for the Knights. However, they first have to wrap up their non-conference slate on Tuesday at 2 p.m. as they take on Florida Atlantic at the ESPN Wide World of Sports.
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Bryson Turner is a sports journalist who covers UCF Athletics. Turner has contributed to the Black and Gold Banneret, the home for UCF Athletics on SB Nation. He has called the Orlando area home since the age of 8 and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCF.
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