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Where Wisconsin Badgers basketball landed in the first NET rankings of 2025-26

Wisconsin enters Big Ten play at 5-2 but the Badgers are still looking for a Quad-1 victory
Benjamin Worgull|
Nov 27, 2025; San Diego, CA, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2) reacts with Wisconsin Badgers forward Austin Rapp (22) after scoring against the Providence Friars during the second half at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Nov 27, 2025; San Diego, CA, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2) reacts with Wisconsin Badgers forward Austin Rapp (22) after scoring against the Providence Friars during the second half at Jenny Craig Pavilion. | Abe Arredondo-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

MADISON, Wis. - The first metrics of the season were not kind to the University of Wisconsin.

Off to a 5-2 start and coming off a 1-2 West Coast road trip, the Badgers debuted at No.69 in the NCAA's initial NET rankings released on Monday, putting the Badgers 11th in the 18-team Big Ten conference.

The low ranking is a combination of Wisconsin's four mid-major victories and falling short in both high-profile opportunities.

Wisconsin's 28-point loss to No.9 BYU is labeled a Quad-1 game and its 23-point loss to TCU Friday in the finals of the Rady Children's Invitational is listed as a Quad-2. The Badgers' best victory came Thanksgiving against Providence, a Quad-3 win with the Friars currently No.127 in the NET.

UW's other victories are all in the Quad-4 category: Campbell (No.245), Northern Illinois (No.257), Ball State (No.340), and SIUE (No.188).

Fresh off its dominant performance at the Player's Era Festival, Michigan debuted as the top team in the NET rankings with a 5-0 record away from the home. The Wolverines won at TCU and beat Wake Forest, San Diego State, No.21 Auburn and No.12 Gonzaga on a neutral floor. Duke, Purdue, Vanderbilt, and Gonzaga round out the top five.

The college basketball NET rankings began in the 2018-19 season for men's basketball, replacing the RPI as the primary sorting tool and used by the NCAA Tournament's selection committee as part of its criteria to evaluate a team's resume. The model uses game results, location, strength of schedule, offensive and defensive efficiency, and quality of wins and losses, to name a few, to sort games into four quadrants: Quad 1, Quad 2, Quad 3, and Quad 4.

It's a system that rewards strength of schedule and winning quality games, especially away from home.

Quad 1: Games against teams ranked 1-30 in the current NET at home, games at a neutral site against teams ranked 1-50 in the NET, games on the road against teams ranked 1-75 in the NET.

Quad 2: Home games against teams 31-75, neutral site games against teams 51-100, away games against teams 76-135

Quad 3: Home games against teams 76-160, neutral site games against teams 101-200, away games against teams 136-240

Quad 4: Home games against teams 161-353, neutral site games against teams 201-353, away games against teams 241-353.

Last season the Badgers was ranked 14th in the final NET rankings and earned a third seed in the NCAA Tournament with a profile that included eight Quad-1 wins, 18 Quad 1/2 wins, and no losses outside Quad-2. North Carolina was the last at-large team to get into the 2025 NCAA Tournament last season as an No. 11 seed with a No. 36 NET ranking.

Wisconsin opens Big Ten play on Wednesday against Northwestern, a Quad-2 opportunity for the Badgers with the Wildcats ranked No.48 in the NET. UW's best chance for a quality nonconference will come in a neutral-site game against Villanova (No.64) on December 19.

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Benjamin Worgull
BENJAMIN WORGULL

Benjamin Worgull has covered Wisconsin men's basketball since 2004, having previously written for Rivals, USA Today, 247sports, Fox Sports, the Associated Press, the Janesville Gazette, and the Wisconsin State Journal.

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