UCF Hoops Sits In Bottom Half Of Big 12 In NCAA Selection Ranking
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The UCF Knights Men's Basketball team got its first look at how it stacks up to the wider college basketball world on Monday with the release of the 2025-26 season's first NET rankings.
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."
Out of all 365 Division I college men's basketball teams, the Knights were ranked No. 58 in the first NET rankings of the season. They are the 11th-highest ranked team in the Big 12, though programs like Oklahoma State, TCU and Kansas State are also ranked in the 50s just ahead of them. The Top 13 teams in the Big 12 are all ranked in the Top 100.
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.
So, looking at UCF's games played so far, here are their opponents' NET rankings:
Opponent | Result | NET Ranking |
|---|---|---|
Hofstra | Win, 82-78 | 106 |
Vanderbilt | Loss, 105-93 | 4 |
Florida A&M | Win, 97-60 | 352 |
@ Texas A&M | Win, 86-74 | 79 |
Oakland | Win, 87-83 | 115 |
vs. Pittsburgh | Win, 77-67 | 147 |
Quinnipiac | Win, 102-91 | 146 |
VMI | Win, 82-57 | 336 |
The Knights' biggest statement win so far is their road victory over Texas A&M, which ranks No. 79 in the NET rankings, which, for away games, is only three spots shy of being a Quadrant 1 win.
As for their lone loss, Vanderbilt ended up ranked No. 4 in the rankings, the highest of any of UCF's opponents this season.
On the opposite end of the pectrum, the lower the quadrant of a matchup, the more of a must-win it becomes in order to preserve an NCAA Tournament-level resume. A majority of the Knights' non-conference opponents count as Quadrant 3 games, including their win in Daytona Beach over Pittsburgh, which is No. 147 in the rankings. Even a few Big 12 conference games, against Arizona State, Cincinnati and Utah, all currently sit as Quadrant 3 games.
The Knights only have three Quadrant 4 games on their schedule, with two of them having already been played, namely their wins over Florida A&M and VMI. Their final Quadrant 4 game, barring changes in the NET ranking over time, is their game against Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 20.
As for their next matchup, the Knights tip off on Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. against CAA favorite Towson in another Quadrant 3 game. The Tigers sit at No. 113 in the NET rankings.
Catch up on more UCF news below:
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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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