What are NET rankings? Quad 1 wins, more in NCAA Tournament bracket seeding

March Madness will be officially underway in just a few hours when the full 68-team NCAA Tournament bracket is released.

There are a handful of teams that are considered “locks” for the 68-team field that will get underway on Tuesday, March 17 with the first set of First Four games in Dayton. There are also a handful of teams that have already secured their spot in the field by way of winning their respective conference tournaments.

But as the countdown to the Selection Sunday bracket reveal show on CBS at 6 p.m. ET continues to tick down, there are some final bracket prognostications and debates ongoing about the bubble, which perhaps is as loaded as ever from past years.

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Though one never knows what exactly takes place in these conversations, especially those a part of the selection committee, one can almost be certain that NET rankings and Quad 1 records will be brought up at some point during them.

But what exactly are quadrant wins, and how do they impact the NET rankings?

Here’s what you need to know about the NCAA’s NET rankings and more ahead of Selection Sunday:

What is the NET? Explaining NCAA ranking system

Created ahead of the 2018-19 men’s basketball season by the NCAA, the NET rankings system is a data-driven sorting system used by the selection committee when evaluating teams’ resumes for the 68-team field. It’s widely considered the most important statistical tool in helping the committee make its decisions, but it also isn’t the only thing they use.

It is first released in December and then is updated throughout the year. It resets each college basketball season, just as teams construct their rosters on a year-to-year basis, and does not include any past information or statistics.

There are two key factors that the NCAA uses in NET rankings:

Team Value Index: A results-based measure that rewards teams for beating quality opponents, with extra weight given to road and neutral-site wins.
Adjusted Net Efficiency: The difference between a team’s offensive efficiency (points per possession) and defensive efficiency (opponents’ points per possession), adjusted for opponent strength and game location.

There are three key factors not used in NET rankings: Game Date, Winning Percentage, and Scoring Margin. While scoring margin isn’t factored into a team’s NET rankings, their per-possession efficiency is. This means that teams benefit most from maximizing offensive efficiency and maximizing defensive efficiency.

In addition, a road win weighs more than a neutral site win for teams, while neutral site wins hold more weight than home wins for teams with their NET rankings. This, of course, all factors into a team’s Quad 1 (Quad 2, Quad 3, and Quad 4) record.

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What is a Quad 1 win?

A Quad 1 win is the crown jewel, prized possession for college basketball teams to secure over the season, as it impacts their NET rankings and projected NCAA Tournament seeding.

It is defined by location and opponent rank (not necessarily at the time of the game): a game at home vs. a team ranked 1-30 in the NET, a game at a neutral site vs. a team ranked 1-50, and a game on the road vs. a team ranked 1-75 in the NET.

As the case is for the other quadrants, Quad 1 games and records are flexible throughout the season.

Quad wins system explained

Perhaps the biggest sorting tool in the NET is a team’s record vs. Quad 1 opponents. The better a team’s record in Quad 1 games, the better the odds are for a team to make the 68-team field. On the other hand, if a team loses to a Quad 3 or a Quad 4 opponent, especially late in the season, that can be detrimental to their NCAA resume.

But what determines a Quad 1 game from a Quad 2 or a Quad 4? Well, two factors ultimately determine that for wins and losses:

The opponent’s ranking in the NET
Whether a team faced their opponent at home, on the road or at a neutral site

Here is a breakdown of what differentiates a victory from a Quad 1 through Quad 4 win in men’s college basketball per NCAA.com:

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

There is also some flexibility in Quad wins, depending on how the season a team’s record against Quad 1 opponents — just like Quad 2, Quad 3 and Quad 4 opponents — can also change throughout the season. For example, if a team beats a Quad 2 team in January but that team becomes a Quad 1 team heading into the postseason, that becomes a Quad 1 win for that team. Similarly, if a Quad 1 team drops to a Quad 2 team or lower, that win would be removed from their Quad 1 record.

NET rankings on Selection Sunday

Here’s a list of the top 16 teams in the country per the NCAA’s NET rankings, which theoretically should result in the teams that will be seeded 1-4 in their respective regions come the bracket reveal show on Selection Sunday:

Ranking reflective of games through Saturday, March 14

Best Quad 1 records entering Selection Sunday

Duke leads the country with 16 Quad 1 wins this season. Here’s a breakdown of which teams in the country have the best Quad 1 records entering Selection Sunday, per the NCAA:

Records reflective of games through Friday, March 14:

What time is Selection Sunday?

The full 68-team bracket for the men’s NCAA Tournament will be revealed at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 15, assuming there are no outstanding conference tournament games still taking place.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What are NET rankings? Quad wins, more in NCAA Tournament bracket seeding

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