BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As the polls go, it was a bad week for Indiana men’s basketball. As the metrics go, it was even worse.
The NCAA debuted its NET ranking for the 2024-25 season on Monday – and the Hoosiers fared poorly on day one.
Indiana is ranked 71st in the initial NET rankings. The NET rankings are the NCAA’s primary means of sorting teams when NCAA Tournament teams are selected in March.
Indiana has gone 0-2 against teams in the Quad 1 portion of the NET rankings after an 89-61 loss to No. 30 Louisville and an 89-73 defeat against No. 3 Gonzaga in the Bahamas.
The quad system is tiered. A Quad 1 victory is achieved if a team is beaten in the 1-30 ranking range at home, 1-50 on a neutral floor or 1-75 in a true road game. The Quad 2 range is 31-75 at home, 51-100 neutral, 76-135 away. Quad 3 is 76-160 at home, 101-200 neutral and 136-240 away. Quad 4 is 161-364 home, 201-364 neutral and 241-364 away.
All of Indiana’s victories are considered Quad 3 or Quad 4. Victories over No. 104 Providence and No. 135 South Carolina are the Hoosiers’ Quad 3 wins. Indiana’s other three victories are Quad 4 wins, the lowest tier.
With no Quad 1 or Quad 2 wins, Indiana is in a significant hole as far as its NCAA Tournament prospects are concerned.
Indiana (5-2) does not play any remaining nonconference games against any opponents ranked 146 or better in the NET, so the only way for the Hoosiers to bolster their resume will be to do well in Big Ten Conference contests.
This was the worst-case scenario worry when Indiana put so much stock in its Battle 4 Atlantis slate. If Indiana did not get quality wins in Battle 4 Atlantis, there would be no other opportunities for the Hoosiers to bolster their resume if they didn’t perform well in the multi-team exempt tournament. That scenario has come to pass.
Indiana is ranked 13th among the 18 Big Ten teams in the NET rankings. Northwestern, Rutgers, Washington, Minnesota and Southern California are the only teams ranked lower.
In a twist of fate, the top-ranked NET team – Tennessee – is a team the Hoosiers defeated in a preseason exhibition contest on the road, but that doesn’t count in the NET rankings.
Indiana also dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll that was released on Monday as the Hoosiers plunged from a No. 14 ranking to out of the Top 25 entirely.
The Hoosiers still received votes, but fell to the 31st spot in the rankings. According to collegepolltracker.com, Indiana still received Top 25 votes from 11 of the 61 media members who take part in the poll. Dave Preston of WTOP radio in Washington, D.C. had Indiana ranked highest at No. 11.
Kansas remains the top-ranked team.
Here is how the NET rankings and the AP Top 25 shook out this week:
NET Top 25 and other Big Ten notables
1. Tennessee, 7-0, two Quad 1 wins.
2. Auburn, 7-0, four Quad 1 wins.
3. Gonzaga, 7-1, two Quad 1 wins.
4. Duke, 5-2, one Quad 1 win.
5. Pittsburgh, 7-1, three Quad 1 wins.
6. Florida, 8-0, one Quad 1 win.
7. Marquette, 8-0, three Quad 1 wins.
8. Kentucky, 7-0, one Quad 1 win.
9. Kansas, 7-0, three Quad 1 wins.
10. Illinois, 6-1, no Quad 1 wins.
11. Cincinnati, 6-0, no Quad 1 wins.
12. Ohio State, 5-2, no Quad 1 wins.
13. Alabama, 6-2, two Quad 1 wins.
14. Utah State, 6-0, no Quad 1 wins.
15. Oregon, 8-0, three Quad 1 wins.
16. UCLA, 6-1, no Quad 1 wins.
17. Wisconsin, 8-0, one Quad 1 win.
18. Clemson, 7-1, one Quad 1 win.
19. Iowa State, 5-1, one Quad 1 win.
20. Houston, 4-3, no Quad 1 wins.
21. Purdue, 7-1, one Quad 1 win.
22. Baylor, 5-2, one Quad 1 win.
23. Maryland, 7-1, no Quad 1 wins.
24. UC-Irvine, 7-0, no Quad 1 wins.
25. Saint Mary’s, 6-1, one Quad 1 win.
34. Penn State, 7-1, no Quad 1 wins.
35. Michigan, 6-1, no Quad 1 wins.
41. Michigan State, 6-2, one Quad 1 win.
44. Nebraska, 6-1, no Quad 1 wins.
54. Iowa, 6-1, no Quad 1 wins.
71. Indiana, 5-2, no Quad 1 wins.
73. Northwestern, 6-2, no Quad 1 wins.
86. Rutgers, 5-3, no Quad 1 wins.
116. Washington, 5-1, no Quad 1 wins.
155. Minnesota, 6-3, no Quad 1 wins.
169. USC, 5-3, no Quad 1 wins.
AP Top 25
1. Kansas (35), 7-0, 1,499 points.
2. Auburn (26), 7-0, 1,490.
3. Tennessee, 7-0, 1,351.
4. Kentucky, 7-0, 1,267.
5. Marquette, 8-0, 1,246.
6. Iowa State, 5-1, 1,225.
7. Gonzaga, 7-1, 1,181.
8. Purdue, 7-1, 1,058.
9. Duke, 5-2, 941.
10. Alabama, 6-2, 939.
11. Wisconsin, 8-0, 903.
12. Oregon, 8-0, 806.
13. Florida, 8-0, 782.
14. Cincinnati, 6-0, 774.
15. Baylor, 5-2, 567.
16. Memphis, 6-1, 500.
17. Houston, 4-3, 402.
18. Pittsburgh, 7-1, 374.
19. Illinois, 6-1, 351.
20. North Carolina, 4-3, 292.
21. Oklahoma, 7-0, 266.
22. Texas A&M, 6-2, 207.
23. Ole Miss, 6-1, 165.
24. San Diego State, 4-2, 143.
25. Connecticut, 5-3, 123.
Others receiving votes (totals listed are point totals for votes, not actual votes received): Michigan St. 108, Arkansas 104, Texas 97, Michigan 95, Arizona St 89, Indiana 72, Drake 58, Xavier 33, Utah St. 28, Louisville 27, West Virginia 26, Clemson 25, BYU 24, Dayton 24, Texas Tech 22, Nebraska 22, Mississippi St. 20, Ohio St. 19, Maryland 13, UCLA 13, Creighton 12, Saint Mary’s 11, Georgia 10, St. John’s 7, Loyola (Ill.) 4, Florida St. 3, DePaul 3, UC Irvine 2, Columbia 2.
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