Women’s Basketball Ranked No. 13 in First NET Rankings
Jan 04 | Women's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Rutgers women's basketball is listed No. 13 in the first NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, released by the national office on Monday. Starting with the 2020-21 season, the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee will use NET as a guide in selecting the at-large field and seeding for the NCAA Tournament, replacing the Rating Percentage Index (RPI) system in place since 1984.
NET ranking is determined by who you played, where you played, how efficiently you played and the result of the game, primary driven by Adjusted Net Efficiency and Team Value Index. The Scarlet Knights are 5-3 on the season with a 4.3 average margin of defeat in their three losses – two of which were on the road – and a 42.0 average margin of victory in their five wins.
Rutgers offensive efficiency is at 1.14 points per possession compared to opponents' 0.80 points per trip.
RU is ranked fourth out of Big Ten teams in the NET behind No. 6 Ohio State, No. 10 Maryland and No. 12 Michigan.
Adjusted Net Efficiency is a measure of a team's overall performance during the regular season, determined by the difference between offensive efficiency (points per possession) and defensive efficiency (opponents points per possession). It also accounts for strength of opponents (as measured by their adjusted net efficiency) and location (home/away/neutral) of the games (against Division I opponents only).
Team Value Index is the results-oriented component of the NET, ranking more highly those teams that played and beat other good teams, factoring in opponent, location of the game and winner.
The Scarlet Knights are enjoying their best offensive production in 30 years, while maintaining their patented elite defense. Rutgers recently scored 80 or more points in five consecutive games for the first time since the 1990-91 season and at 81.3 points per game, is challenging the school record of 86.2 points per contest from the 1978-79 campaign. RU ranks 13th in the nation in scoring margin, 2nd in the county in steals per game and fourth in turnover margin.
NET FAQ's
What does location of the game mean to a team's NET ranking?
In both Adjusted Net Efficiency and Team Value Index, the same performance against the same opponent will be valued more on the road than at a neutral site, and more at a neutral site than at home. The amount of this location adjustment is based on the data itself, as teams tend to generally perform worse on the road than neutral than at home, so adjusting for that allows for fairer comparisons than just using raw values. With teams playing home games with limited or no fans, the committee and staff is studying the impact that's having on homecourt advantage compared to a typical year.
What are the differences between the women's basketball NET and RPI?
The women's basketball NET is a contemporary sorting tool that more accurately measures the quality of a team determined by who you played, where you played, how efficiently you played and the result of the game.
The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) was created in 1981 to provide supplemental data for the Division I Men's Basketball Committee in its evaluation of teams for at-large selection and seeding of the championship bracket. The Division I Women's Basketball Committee began using the RPI in 1984. Simply stated, the RPI provided a ranking of each institution based on their Division I winning percentage and strength of schedule.
RPI consisted of three factors weighted as follows:
Beginning in the 2020-21 season, the RPI will no longer be used by the Division I Women's Basketball Committee.
How was the current women's basketball NET algorithm determined?
The Division I Women's Basketball Committee decided to move from the RPI to the NET for the 2020-21 season after a lengthy evaluation process.
Included was a comprehensive assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the men's basketball NET that has been used by the Division I Men's Basketball Committee as a sorting tool since the 2018-19 season.
Following an analysis of women's basketball statistical data over a 10-year period by external consultants, the Division I Women's Basketball Committee concluded that this algorithm was an optimal sorting tool and should be used beginning with the 2020-21 season.
Did the Division I Women's Basketball Committee consider a phase-in approach given that many competition schedules are already set for the next two to three years for some teams?
The committee determined that there was no perfect time to implement the use of NET and that scheduling, whether with RPI or the NET, should be viewed similarly. Both metrics are used primarily as sorting tools, as tournament selection ultimately comes down to who you played, where you played and the result of the game. NET does a more precise job measuring opponent quality given performance than RPI does, so teams' aim should be to play their best and not worry about ways to schedule to "game" the system.
How will the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee use NET during the selection process, and will the NET ranking be weighed more heavily than the other criteria in the selection process?
The NET is one of many criteria used by the Division I Women's Basketball Committee in the selection of the 32 at-large teams and seeding of the 64 teams which make up the bracket for the Division I Women's Basketball Championship.
Criteria used by the Division I Women's Basketball Committee to evaluate a team includes (alphabetically):
NET ranking is determined by who you played, where you played, how efficiently you played and the result of the game, primary driven by Adjusted Net Efficiency and Team Value Index. The Scarlet Knights are 5-3 on the season with a 4.3 average margin of defeat in their three losses – two of which were on the road – and a 42.0 average margin of victory in their five wins.
Rutgers offensive efficiency is at 1.14 points per possession compared to opponents' 0.80 points per trip.
RU is ranked fourth out of Big Ten teams in the NET behind No. 6 Ohio State, No. 10 Maryland and No. 12 Michigan.
Adjusted Net Efficiency is a measure of a team's overall performance during the regular season, determined by the difference between offensive efficiency (points per possession) and defensive efficiency (opponents points per possession). It also accounts for strength of opponents (as measured by their adjusted net efficiency) and location (home/away/neutral) of the games (against Division I opponents only).
Team Value Index is the results-oriented component of the NET, ranking more highly those teams that played and beat other good teams, factoring in opponent, location of the game and winner.
The Scarlet Knights are enjoying their best offensive production in 30 years, while maintaining their patented elite defense. Rutgers recently scored 80 or more points in five consecutive games for the first time since the 1990-91 season and at 81.3 points per game, is challenging the school record of 86.2 points per contest from the 1978-79 campaign. RU ranks 13th in the nation in scoring margin, 2nd in the county in steals per game and fourth in turnover margin.
NET FAQ's
What does location of the game mean to a team's NET ranking?
In both Adjusted Net Efficiency and Team Value Index, the same performance against the same opponent will be valued more on the road than at a neutral site, and more at a neutral site than at home. The amount of this location adjustment is based on the data itself, as teams tend to generally perform worse on the road than neutral than at home, so adjusting for that allows for fairer comparisons than just using raw values. With teams playing home games with limited or no fans, the committee and staff is studying the impact that's having on homecourt advantage compared to a typical year.
What are the differences between the women's basketball NET and RPI?
The women's basketball NET is a contemporary sorting tool that more accurately measures the quality of a team determined by who you played, where you played, how efficiently you played and the result of the game.
The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) was created in 1981 to provide supplemental data for the Division I Men's Basketball Committee in its evaluation of teams for at-large selection and seeding of the championship bracket. The Division I Women's Basketball Committee began using the RPI in 1984. Simply stated, the RPI provided a ranking of each institution based on their Division I winning percentage and strength of schedule.
RPI consisted of three factors weighted as follows:
- Division I winning percentage — 25 percent of the RPI
- Opponents' winning percentage — 50 percent of the RPI
- Opponents' opponent winning percentage — 25 percent of the RPI
Beginning in the 2020-21 season, the RPI will no longer be used by the Division I Women's Basketball Committee.
How was the current women's basketball NET algorithm determined?
The Division I Women's Basketball Committee decided to move from the RPI to the NET for the 2020-21 season after a lengthy evaluation process.
Included was a comprehensive assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the men's basketball NET that has been used by the Division I Men's Basketball Committee as a sorting tool since the 2018-19 season.
Following an analysis of women's basketball statistical data over a 10-year period by external consultants, the Division I Women's Basketball Committee concluded that this algorithm was an optimal sorting tool and should be used beginning with the 2020-21 season.
Did the Division I Women's Basketball Committee consider a phase-in approach given that many competition schedules are already set for the next two to three years for some teams?
The committee determined that there was no perfect time to implement the use of NET and that scheduling, whether with RPI or the NET, should be viewed similarly. Both metrics are used primarily as sorting tools, as tournament selection ultimately comes down to who you played, where you played and the result of the game. NET does a more precise job measuring opponent quality given performance than RPI does, so teams' aim should be to play their best and not worry about ways to schedule to "game" the system.
How will the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee use NET during the selection process, and will the NET ranking be weighed more heavily than the other criteria in the selection process?
The NET is one of many criteria used by the Division I Women's Basketball Committee in the selection of the 32 at-large teams and seeding of the 64 teams which make up the bracket for the Division I Women's Basketball Championship.
Criteria used by the Division I Women's Basketball Committee to evaluate a team includes (alphabetically):
- Availability of talent (injured or unavailable players)
- Bad losses
- Common opponents
- Competitive in losses
- Conference record
- Early competition versus late competition
- Head-to-head outcomes
- NET ranking
- Non-conference record
- Overall record
- Regional Advisory Committee region rankings
- Significant wins
- Strength of conference
- Strength of schedule
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Tuesday, March 17
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Tuesday, March 17
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Women’s Basketball Post Game Press Conference - Minnesota
Sunday, February 08
