Fresh off Tuesday’s dominant win against Evansville, BYU basketball has more to celebrate Wednesday than remaining undefeated eight games into the season.
The Cougars can also rejoice over moving up to the top spot in the NCAA’s Net Rankings, the metric used to determine seeding in the season-ending NCAA tournament.
Ahead of the Evansville game, BYU came in second in the Net Rankings behind fellow Big 12 newcomer Houston. After the 96-55 win, the Cougars moved up.
The Net Rankings are based on a variety of factors, including strength of schedule, game locations and scoring margins, according to the NCAA. The rankings system was designed to ensure that teams are rewarded for the quality of their wins.
The Net Rankings, which are updated daily during the men’s college basketball season starting in December, “serve as the primary sorting tool for Division I men’s basketball,” the NCAA reported.
Notably, a team’s position in the NCAA’s Net Rankings can be quite different than its position in the AP Top 25.
The Cougars are currently No. 14 in the AP poll, while Houston is No. 3.
Here’s a look at the top 15 teams on each list:
- AP Top 25: Arizona | Net Rankings: BYU
- AP Top 25: Kansas | Net Rankings: Houston
- AP Top 25: Houston | Net Rankings: Arizona
- AP Top 25: Purdue | Net Rankings: Purdue
- AP Top 25: UConn | Net Rankings: Creighton
- AP Top 25: Baylor | Net Rankings: Baylor
- AP Top 25: Gonzaga | Net Rankings: Colorado State
- AP Top 25: Marquette | Net Rankings: UConn
- AP Top 25: North Carolina | Net Rankings: Marquette
- AP Top 25: Creighton | Net Rankings: Princeton
- AP Top 25: Florida Atlantic | Net Rankings: Tennessee
- AP Top 25: Texas | Net Rankings: Kansas
- AP Top 25: Colorado State | Net Rankings: Alabama
- AP Top 25: BYU | Net Rankings: Indiana State
- AP Top 25: Miami (Florida) | Net Rankings: Oklahoma
BYU basketball next plays on Saturday in Salt Lake City against the Utah Runnin’ Utes.