Virginia Basketball Knocked Down in Latest KenPom and NET Rankings

The Virginia Cavaliers faced a slight drop in the latest rankings.

Virginia Cavaliers guard Dallin Hall | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

The Virginia Cavaliers are now on a five-game winning streak after their latest 61-58 victory over the Florida State Seminoles. But despite clinching yet another win, they're struggling to climb in the KenPom and NET rankings. Currently placed at No. 15 in the AP Top 25, it's rather surprising to see their latest positioning.

The Cavaliers are 21-3 overall and 10-2 in conference play. While their records are impressive, it should be noted that most of their games this season have resulted in incredibly tight scores. This fact alone could be enough to cause Virginia to fall.

The latest KenPom rankings were released today, and the Cavaliers found their new home at No. 18. For reference, they were at No. 16 just a few short days ago. As for the NET rankings, Virginia landed at No. 17—again, another drop.

The NET rankings for the Cavaliers follow this breakdown:

Quad 1: 4-2
Quad 2: 7-1
Quad 3: 3-0
Quad 4: 7-0

As opposed to the former Ratings Power Index (RPI) model, the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings factor in far more components, some of which include game results, strength of schedule, game location and offensive and defensive efficiency. The RPI, however, only considered three components: winning percentage, average opponent's winning percentage and average opponent's winning percentage, as detailed by NCAA.com.

UVA Has Opportunity to Climb

Virginia Cavaliers head coach Ryan Odom | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Aside from Virginia's 72-59 victory over Syracuse on Feb. 7, the Cavaliers have just barely been edging out opponents. Heading into their remaining matchups of the month, now is the time for UVA to step on the gas.

"... We certainly have to play better than we're playing right now if we want to challenge the best teams in the country," head Ryan Odom explained during his recent press conference. "But I think the overall depth is something that this team certainly has and relies on. But there's a toughness when you've won, I guess it's 21 games now, they just figure it out. They can win pretty, they can win ugly, and they just kind of find a way."

Simply put, the Cavaliers will not continue sealing victories if they don't start pulling ahead—not when they have matchups scheduled in the near future against Miami, NC State and Duke. These are not opponents to back down easily, and they're productive on both sides of the ball. This is an opportunity for Virginia to improve their position in the rankings and make a strong case for itself in the NCAA Tournament.