Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: 5 major problems with a conference-only 2020-21 season

By Caleb Hightower

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 22: A view of the NCAA logo during a game between the Albany Great Danes and the Duke Blue Devils during the second round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Wells Fargo Center on March 22, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 22: A view of the NCAA logo during a game between the Albany Great Danes and the Duke Blue Devils during the second round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Wells Fargo Center on March 22, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 8: The NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 8: The NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) /

The concept of the NET

The first problem that I mentioned in this article, allows me to segue perfectly into problem #2, which is that the NCAA Evaluation Tool (better known as the NET) will be applied much differently moving forward, which may not be a great thing in a conference-only season.

The concept of the NET can be difficult to grasp at first, but essentially it is a tool the committee uses to determine which teams have the strongest body of work, and have earned the right to play in the NCAA Tournament. It includes a 4 Quadrant System that separates teams based on their individual NET ranking. NET rankings used to be decided by 5 factors, but as of May 2020, the NET rankings are decided by just two.

Here are the two factors that are explained on the official website of the NCAA:

Factor# 1: Team Value Index,  which examines a team’s opponent, the location where a game was played, and the outcome of the game. It is based on wins and losses.

Factor# 2: Adjusted NET Efficiency, which includes three main equations. 1) Offensive NET Efficiency= a team’s Field Goal Attempts minus their Offensive Rebounds, plus their turnovers and (.475 x Free Throw attempts), which gives them their Total Number of Possessions, which their Total Points will be divided by. 2) Defensive NET Efficiency = a team’s opponent’s Field Goal Attempts minus their Offensive Rebounds, plus their Turnovers and (.475 x Free Throw Attempts), which will give them their Total Number of Possessions, which their Total Points will be divided by.

And lastly a team’s overall NET Efficiency= their Offensive Efficiency minus their Defensive Efficiency. In addition to this, the committee will also look at the strength of a team’s opponent, and the location of the game.

ESPN College Basketball Writer, John Gasaway, shared an image of the original NET via Twitter on Nov 3, 2018, which was when it first revealed to Division 1 programs.

I will write out the 3 old factors below:

Factor# 1:  Winning Percentage, which is a simple calculation that only includes one equation. A team’s winning percentage= Their total wins divided by the number of games they played.

Factor# 2:  Adjusted Win Percentage, which is a weighted percentage that is based on the location and result of a game. A team will receive a 1.4 win percentage increase for a road win, a 1.0 win percentage increase for a neutral site win, and 0.6 win percentage increase for a home win. If a team isn’t so fortunate, they will receive a 0.6 win percentage decrease for a road loss, a 1.0 win percentage decrease for a neutral site loss, and a 1.4 win percentage decrease for a home loss.

Factor# 3: Scoring Margin, which is capped off at 10 points in each game, so that teams won’t suffer if their opponents try to run up the score late in games. It is simply calculated by completing one equation. Scoring Margin= A team’s score minus their opponent’s score.

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