Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: 4 biggest takeaways from first set of 2019-20 NET rankings

By Matthew Travis

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 04: Alonzo Gaffney #0 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrates as he leaves the floor after a win against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on December 04, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Ohio State won 74-49. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 04: Alonzo Gaffney #0 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrates as he leaves the floor after a win against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on December 04, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Ohio State won 74-49. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OH – NOVEMBER 13: Ohio State Buckeyes players (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH – NOVEMBER 13: Ohio State Buckeyes players (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

2. The Top-Five is Very Interesting

The NET Rankings are interesting for a variety of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is because of the bizarre top-five.

According to the NET Rankings here are your five best teams in College Basketball:

  1. Ohio State
  2. Kansas
  3. San Diego State
  4. Butler
  5. Baylor

Here are the top-five teams in College Basketball according to the AP Poll:

  1. Kansas
  2. Gonzaga
  3. Louisville
  4. Duke
  5. Ohio State

Notice anything about these two top-fives? To me the thing that sticks out the most is the fact that the two only have two teams in common. How could two separate rankings be so split on the five best teams in the nation?

Here is where the top-five teams according to the NET Rankings, are ranked in the AP Poll:

  • Ohio State; 1st in NET, 5th in AP
  • Kansas; 2nd in NET, 1st in AP
  • San Diego State; 3rd in NET, 20th in AP
  • Butler; 4th in NET, 17th in AP
  • Baylor; 5th in NET, 10th in AP

Here is where the top-five teams according to the AP Poll, are ranked in the NET Rankings:

  • Kansas; 1st in AP, 2nd in NET
  • Gonzaga; 2nd in AP, 6th in NET
  • Louisville; 3rd in AP, 8th in NET
  • Duke; 4th in AP, 13th in NET
  • Ohio State; 5th in AP, 1st in NET

So once again, how are these teams ranked so differently between two polls? Which of these two polls is more reliable and lastly, what teams are truly the five best in the nation?

If we were to do a top-five based on the average ranking between the NET and AP Polls it would like this:

  1. Kansas (average of 1.5)
  2. Ohio State (average of 3)
  3. Gonzaga (average of 4)
  4. Louisville (average of 5.5)
  5. Baylor (average of 7.5)

This is interesting because if this were the case, the AP Poll would be more accurate as it has four of the five in this top-five, in their top-five, while the NET Rankings have three of them.

Nonetheless, it is still the middle of December and there is still A LOT of basketball to be played before Selection Sunday, but these NET Rankings make for quite the conversation when it comes to deciding who the best teams in the nation are.

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