Hoop Hogs in top 25 of first NET rankings
The Arkansas Razorbacks checked in at No. 25 in the first NET rankings, which were released Monday morning. The Hogs are off to a 7-1 start to the season.
This season marks the fifth year of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, which replaced the RPI prior to the 2018-19 season as the primary sorting tool for evaluating teams.
The NET takes into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency and the quality of wins and losses.
Using the quadrant system, the quality of wins and losses will be organized based on game location and the opponent's NET ranking.
Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
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.
Arkansas is 1-1 in Quadrant 1 games, both coming at the Maui Invitation. The Hogs suffered a 90-87 loss to Creighton (No. 33 in NET) and they won 78-74 in overtime over San Diego State (No. 45 in NET).
The Hogs have yet to play a Quadrant 2 game. They are 3-0 in Quadrant 3 matchups against Troy, Fordham and South Dakota State. Arkansas is also unblemished in Quadrant 4 games, with wins coming over North Dakota State, San Jose State and Louisville.
Moving forward with the non-conference slate, Arkansas will have Quadrant 1 games against Oklahoma this Saturday on a neutral court at the BOK Center in Tulsa. The Baylor game in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 28 will also be a Quad 1 opportunity.
Bradley will be a Quad 2 chance on Dec. 17 on a neutral court at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock. The remaining games are Quad 4 opportunities against UNC Greensboro on Tuesday and UNC Asheville on Dec. 21.
Here's a full list of the NET rankings of Arkansas' opponents so far (out of 363):
No. 33 Creighton
No. 45 San Diego State
No. 98 Fordham
No. 128 Troy
No. 138 South Dakota State
No. 199 San Jose State
No. 333 North Dakota State
No. 361 Louisville
Click here for the full NET rankings, which will be updated daily throughout the season.