Gonzaga debuts at No. 3 in NET rankings with two Quad 1 victories

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Dec. 2—Remember the angst last season when Gonzaga was stationed on the bubble, hadn’t recorded a Quad 1 victory until February and was in jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament?

No such drama early on this season. The Zags are off to a 7-1 start — same as last year — but their November victories are carrying more clout this time around with a pair of Quad 1 wins.

That’s the takeaway based on the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, which debuted Monday with Gonzaga listed at No. 3. The Zags were 6-1 a year ago with wins over UCLA and USC when they debuted at No. 31 in the NET rankings.

The NET rankings are a primary sorting tool to evaluate and seed tournament teams. It utilizes a quadrant system to categorize wins/losses: Quad 1 vs. home 1-30 NET, neutral 1-50, away 1-75; Quad 2 home 31-75, neutral 51-100, away 76-135; Quad 3 vs. home 76-160, neutral 101-200, away 136-240; and Quad 4 home 161-353, neutral 201-353, away 241-353.

According to an article on the NCAA.com website, the number of Quadrant 1 wins and Quadrant 3/4 losses will be “incredibly important” when it comes time for NCAA Tournament selection and seeding. The NET rankings will be updated daily.

Gonzaga’s 101-63 rout over No. 22 Baylor and an 80-67 road win against San Diego State account for GU’s two Q1 wins. The Zags’ 86-78 overtime loss to No. 29 West Virginia is a Q1 loss.

The Zags are 2-0 in Q2 with an 88-80 victory over No. 33 Arizona State at the McCarthey Athletic Center and an 89-73 win over No. 71 Indiana at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Tennessee, with a 2-0 Quad 1 record, and Auburn, 4-0 vs. Quad 1 after winning the Maui Invitational, are first and second, respectively. The rest of the top 10: No. 4 Duke, followed by Pitt, Florida, Marquette, Kentucky, Kansas and Illinois.

The Zags face Kentucky on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Gonzaga’s 89-85 road win over the Wildcats at Rupp Arena last February was the Zags’ first Quad 1 win and they went on a hot streak that resulted in a five seed in March…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gonzaga-debuts-no-3-net-030300189.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-12-03 03:03:00

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