Florida basketball (21-6, 12-2) won its seventh straight SEC game against Ole Miss on Saturday, leading to a two-spot jump to No. 7 on NET rankings.
Florida started off at No. 33 in the initial NET rankings at the end of November and slowly climbed into the top 10 by early February. The Gators peaked at No. 7 two weeks ago but dipped back to No. 9 during the easy part of the SEC schedule. However, piling up wins has led to a return to Florida's season-high position.
During the 7-game win streak, Florida has won all but one contest (vs. Kentucky) by double digits, averaging a 21.6-point margin of victory. The good news is that most of the wins have come against quality opponents, and other teams have continued to climb up the NET, making the wins stronger.
The Gators are the only SEC team ranked inside the top 15, with Vanderbilt being the next closest at No. 16. Tennessee is just behind at No. 17, while Arkansas and Alabama control the Nos. 20 and 21 spots, respectively.
Florida has three remaining regular-season games against Quadrant 1 teams, including two in the upcoming week, and one Quadrant 3 matchup.
Breaking down Florida’s wins by Quadrant
Before going into Florida’s resume, it’s important to understand how the quadrants are divided. Where a game is played has as much to do with the quadrant as the quality of the opponent. As the rankings change, so does the quality of the wins.
- 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
Quadrant 1 Games
Florida is 8-5 in Quadrant 1 games.
Non-conference losses came against No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Arizona and No. 10 UConn. All three are considered very good losses. The Gators' non-conference Q1 win came against No. 35 Miami at a neutral site (Jacksonville), and UF lost to No. 47 TCU. The Hurricanes are firmly in Quadrant 1, while the Horned Frogs recently moved back within the top-50 threshold.
Several of Florida's SEC games have come against Q1 opponents. The Missouri (No. 61) loss on the road remains in Quadrant 1, which is good for the Gators, but Auburn is just outside of the top 30, dropping out of Q1 territory.
The Q1 conference wins came against No. 16 Vanderbilt (road), No. 17 Tennessee (home), No. 21 Alabama (home), No. 34 Georgia (road), No. 42 Texas A&M (road) and No. 71 Oklahoma (road). The most recent came against No. 29 Kentucky at home, which is just within the threshold.
Quadrant 2 Games
In Quadrant 2 games, Florida is 7-1, with wins over No. 34 Georgia, No. 67 LSU — both at home. The Gators beat No. 91 Ole Miss and No. 105 South Carolina during conference play.
The other three Q2 wins came during the non-conference schedule against No. 74 Florida State, No. 78 Providence and No. 87 George Washington, both at a neutral site. The Seminoles recently jumped into Quadrant 2 territory but are right near the threshold.
Florida's lone Quadrant 2 losses came against No. 33 Auburn. The Tigers continue to drift further from returning to Q1 territory.
Quadrant 3 and 4 games
The only Quadrant 3 game Florida played came at home against No. 105 South Carolina. Florida won that by 47 points.
Florida went 5-0 against Q4 teams, beating No. 180 Merrimack, No. 217 Colgate, No. 242 Dartmouth, No. 337 North Florida and No. 335 Saint Francis by an average of 33.6 points. Merrimack is the only one near the Quadrant 3 threshold of No. 160.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball NET ratings after winning at South Carolina