Florida basketball climbs further up NET top 10 after beating Georgia

Florida basketball (18-6, 9-2) moved up to No. 7 on the NET rankings following a 20-point win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Wednesday night, the Gators’ fourth-straight blowout win against an SEC team.

The Gators are now ahead of top-10 staples UConn and Iowa State, who sit at Nos. 8 and 9, respectively. Florida notably lost to the Huskies in early December by four points, but UF has steadily climbed the NET rankings from No. 33 back on Nov. 30. Florida has spent the last week ranked inside the top 10 and is now approaching the top five. Florida is one of two teams in the top 12 with five or more losses, the other being No. 5 Illinois (20-5).

Four of Florida’s seven remaining regular-season games are against Quadrant 1 teams, including Saturday’s home matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats, so the Gators have several chances to break into the top five.

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 7-5 in Quadrant 1 games.

Non-conference losses came against No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 Duke and No. 8 UConn. All three are considered very good losses. The Gators’ non-conference Q1 win came against No. 36 Miami at a neutral site (Jacksonville) and 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 were against Q1 opponents. The Missouri (No. 57) loss on the road remains in Quadrant 1, which is good for the Gators, but Auburn remains just outside of the top 30, dropping out of Q1 territory. The Q1 conference wins came against No. 15 Vanderbilt, No. 21 Alabama, No. 22 Tennessee, No. 43 Texas A&M and No. 73 Oklahoma. The most recent win over No. 35 Georgia came on the road, which makes it a Quadrant 1 win.

Quadrant 2 Games

In Quadrant 2 games, Florida is 5-1, with wins over No. 35 Georgia, No. 58 LSU — both at home — and at No. 112 South Carolina (road) during conference play. The other two Q2 wins came during the non-conference schedule against No. 77 Providence and No. 91 George Washington, both at a neutral site.

Florida’s lone Quadrant 2 losses came against No. 31 Auburn. The Tigers are one spot away from reentering Quadrant 1 territory, however.

Quadrant 3 and 4 games

The only Quadrant 3 game Florida has played in so far was a home game against No. 95 Florida State. The Seminoles have trended down most of the season but recently climbed more than 40 spots in the NET. The Seminoles still need to get to No. 75 to reach Q2.

Florida went 5-0 against Q4 teams, beating No. 187 Merrimack, No. 198 Colgate, No. 236 Dartmouth, No. 339 North Florida and No. 353 Saint Francis by an average of 33.6 points.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball’s NET ranking after beating Georgia on the road