Houston Cougars Men's Basketball ranked 5th in NET; 6th in AP Poll and 6th in Coaches Poll

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The Saxenian Family

POSTED: March 15, 2021 -- 1:05 p.m. CT

In the final rankings of the 2020-21 men's college basketball regular season, the Houston Cougars men's basketball team remains in the top 10. As of the games played through March 14th, Houston (24-3 overall, 17-3 in the American Athletic Conference) is ranked 5th in the NCAA's NET Rankings. The NET rankings are updated daily.

NOTE: Houston's 112-46 win over NAIA member Our Lady of the Lake DOES NOT count in the NET calculations. The NET is based on games against Division 1 opponents.

Two of Houston's 24 wins against Division 1 opponents are Quadrant (Quad) 1 wins; 6 wins are Quad 2 wins; 10 wins are Quad 3 wins; and 5 wins are Quad 4 wins.

Houston's 68-63 loss at Wichita State is a Q1 loss. Wichita State's NET ranking is 68 as games through Feb. 21. The Coogs' 65-64 loss at Tulsa is a Quad 2 loss. Tulsa's NET ranking, through February 21, is 114. Houston's 82-73 loss at East Carolina is a Q3 loss. East Carolina's NET ranking, through February 21, is 147.

NET rankings for American Athletic Conference men's basketball teams through games Mar. 14:
• Houston - 5
• Memphis - 52
• SMU - 65
• Wichita State - 72
• UCF - 103
• Cincinnati - 124
• Tulsa - 134
• Temple - 167
• Tulane - 168
• East Carolina - 180
• South Florida - 205

The men's basketball committee divides all 350 plus Division 1 men's basketball teams into 4 quadrants: Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. Each quadrant consists of rankings which also depend on whether the game is at home, on the road, or at a neutral site.

Quadrant 1 (Q1) rankings:

• Home: 1 to 30 (Q1a: 1-15, Q1b: 16-30)
• Neutral: 1 to 50 (Q1a: 1-25, Q1b: 26-50)
• Away: 1 to 75 (Q1a: 1-40; Q1b: 41-75)

Quadrant 2 (Q2) rankings:

• Home: 31 to 75 (Q2a: 31-55, Q2b: 56-75)
• Neutral: 51 to 100 (Q2a: 51-75, Q2b: 76-100)
• Away: 76 to 135 (Q2a: 76-100, Q2b: 101-135)

Quadrant 3 (Q3) rankings:

• Home: 76 to 160
• Neutral: 101 to 200
• Away: 136 to 240

Quadrant 4 (Q4) rankings:

• Home: 161+
• Neutral: 201+
• Away: 241+

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The Saxenian Family

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The NET rankings replaced RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) as the NCAA's primary sorting tool for evaluating teams.

The NET is in its third season for men's basketball and was modified in the offseason when it was simplified to a two-component system. The two components are the Team Value Index, which rewards teams for beating quality opponents, especially away from home, and a team's efficiency rating, which is adjusted for the strength of an opponent and the location of a game.

The NET was approved in July 2019 after consultation with the Division I Men's Basketball committee, National Association of Basketball Coaches, top basketball analytics and Google Cloud Professional Services.

The system relies on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency and qualities of wins and losses.

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Houston moves up 1 spot from 7th to 6th in Week 16 of the Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll.

The Cougars received 1145 points in the Week 17 poll -- a decrease of 28 points -- compared to the 1173 points Houston received in the Week 16 AP poll.

Houston also moves up 1 spot from 7th to 6th in this week's Coaches Poll. The Coogs received 587 points in the March 14th Coaches Poll -- an increase of 15 points -- compared to the 572 points Houston received in the March 8th Coaches Poll.

Sunday, Houston earned a 2-seed in the Midwest Region in the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Houston's next game is scheduled for Friday, March 19th, versus 15-seed Cleveland State in the First Round of the tournament. Tip time is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Central Time on truTV.

CLICK HERE for news and info about the Coogs' men's basketball team.