The season’s first college basketball NET rankings released on Saturday as the calendar turns from November to December. Tennessee basketball debuted at No. 1 in the NET rankings after a strong start to the season where they posted a 7-0 record and three wins against power five opponents.
Rick Barnes’ 10th Tennessee team is 2-0 in Quad 1 opportunities, 3-0 in Quad 3 opportunities and 2-0 in Quad 4 opportunities. The Vols two Quad 1 wins came on the road at Louisville and in a neutral site matchup against Baylor. Their third power five win was a neutral site game against Virginia who landed at No. 125 in the inaugural rankings.
The NET is an analytics based metric and is one of the top tools that the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses to choose and seed the 68-team field.
The top of the NET rankings are filled with SEC teams including No. 2 Auburn, No. 6 Florida, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 13 Alabama, No. 27 Georgia and No. 28 Mississippi State.
Tennessee’s next three games come against power five teams but likely will not be resume boosters. The Vols face Syracuse in Knoxville on Tuesday night before facing Miami in New York City at Illinois in Champagne next week. According to their current NET rankings, Syracuse would currently be a Quad 4 victory, Miami would be a Quad 3 victory and Illinois would be a Quad 1 win.
The Vols finish non conference play with three buy games before starting SEC play. But with depth of the SEC, Tennessee will have no shortage of opportunities for marquee wins.
Tennessee has jumped out to a hot start this season thanks in large part due to the quick success of its transfer class. North Florida shooting guard Chaz Lanier leads Tennessee with 17.7 points per game while Charlotte forward Igor Milicic Jr. is averaging 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. Ohio State center transfer Felix Okpara has started every game and is averaging 7.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and two blocks per game.
The quickly meshing Vols currently rank No. 11 nationally in KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 2 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency.
It’s important to note that the quads change throughout the course of the season as teams go up-and-down the rankings. But as of right now, here’s a look at what every game would currently be from a quad standpoint.
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Tennessee’s Schedule
Win vs. Gardner-Webb — Quad 3 win
Win at Louisville — Quad 1 win
Win vs. Montana — Quad 3 win
Win vs. Austin Peay — Quad 4 win
Win vs. Virginia (Bahamas) — Quad 3 win
Win vs. Baylor (Bahamas) — Quad 1 win
Win vs. UT Martin — Quad 4 win
vs. Syracuse — Quad 4
vs. Miami (New York City) — Quad 3
at Illinois — Quad 1
vs. Western Carolina — Quad 4
vs. MSTU — Quad 3
vs. Norfolk State — Quad 3
vs. Arkansas — Quad 2
at Florida — Quad 1
at Texas — Quad 1
vs. Georgia — Quad 1
at Vanderbilt — Quad 1
vs. Mississippi State — Quad 1
at Auburn — Quad 1
vs. Kentucky — Quad 1
vs. Florida — Quad 1
vs. Missouri — Quad 2
at Oklahoma — Quad 1
at Kentucky — Quad 1
vs. Vanderbilt — Quad 2
at Texas A&M — Quad 1
at LSU — Quad 1
vs. Alabama — Quad 1
at Ole Miss — Quad 1
vs. South Carolina — Quad 3
