Initial NET Rankings Released For In-State College Basketball Teams

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The first NET rankings of the 2020-21 college basketball season has been released, including the in-state teams.

The NET rankings is one of the grading tools for the NCAA selection committee and it tells in-state teams and other programs where they stand in the country.

All 340 Division I college basketball teams are listed in the NET rankings.

Each team in the NET rankings are graded off of their performances against opponents and based on where the team is ranked and where the game is played, will be put in “quadrants,” also known as “quads.” Here is what determines whether an opponent or team is in a specific quadrant.

Quadrant 1: Home Ranked No. 1-30; Neutral 1-50; Away 1-75

Quadrant 2: Home Ranked No. 31-75; Neutral 51-100; Away 76-135

Quadrant 3: Home 76-160; Neutral 101-200; Away 136-240

Quadrant 4: Home 161-353; Neutral 201-353; Away 241-353

Here is how the local in-state programs are stacked based off of the NET ranking.

BYU Cougars NET Rankings Among In-State Teams

The Cougars are the highest ranked team in the state of Utah at No. 52. They are second among West Coast Conference teams, behind Gonzaga (No. 1) and just ahead of Saint Mary’s (No. 53).

BYU is 8-2 this season with wins over Westminster, New Orleans (No. 324), Utah Valley (No. 277), Utah (No. 120) and Texas Southern (No. 166) at home. The Cougars knocked off Utah State (No. 85) and San Diego State (No. 41) on the road. They picked up victories over St. John’s (No. 112) and Weber State (No. 162) at neutral sites.

Their two losses came against USC (No. 26) in Connecticut and Boise State (No. 13) at home. The Cougars are 1-2 in quadrant one games, 1-0 in quadrant two, while going 3-0 in both quadrant three and quadrant four.

BYU had their games against Pepperdine and San Diego postponed last week and will not be playing Pacific at home this week due to COVID-19. Their next scheduled game is Thursday, January 14 at Saint Mary’s at 6 p.m. MST on one of the ESPN Networks and KSL Newsradio.

Due to COVID-19 related protocols within the Pacific program, Thursday’s game between BYU and Pacific has been postponed.#BYUhoops pic.twitter.com/aMMcokMgTa

— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) January 4, 2021

Utah State Aggies NET Rankings Among In-State Teams

The Aggies are No. 85 in the initial NET rankings. They are the fourth-highest ranked team in the Mountain West, behind Boise State (No. 13), Colorado State (No. 40) and San Diego State (No. 41).

Utah State is 6-3 overall and 4-0 in conference play. They have wins over College of Idaho, Northern Colorado (No. 272) and a pair of victories over San Jose State (No. 330) at home. The Aggies beat Northern Iowa (No. 194) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Craig Smith’s team is coming off of a pair of road wins over Air Force (No. 287).

Their losses came against VCU (No. 31) and South Dakota State (No. 98) at a neutral site, along with a loss to BYU (No. 52) at home. Utah State is 0-1 in Quad 1, 0-2 in Quad 2, 1-0 in Quad 3 and 5-0 in Quad 4.

Up next for the Aggies will be a two-game road series with New Mexico (No. 258) in Lubbock, Texas on Wednesday, January 6 at 8 p.m. MST on CBS Sports Network and on Friday, January 8 at 9 p.m. MST on FS1.

another SERIES SWEEP‼️

🧹🧹🧹🧹#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/WicIi5sR15

— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 3, 2021

Utah Utes NET Rankings Compared To Other In-State Teams

The Utes are the third highest ranked team in the state at No. 120. They are the ninth-highest ranked team in the Pac-12 behind Colorado (No. 14), Oregon (No. 19), Arizona (No. 21), USC (No. 26), UCLA (No. 54), Stanford (No. 55), Washington State (No. 101) and Arizona State (No. 105).

Utah basketball is 4-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Their four wins came against Washington (No. 237), Idaho State (No. 274), Utah Valley (No. 277) and Idaho (No. 333) all at home. They lost to BYU (No. 52), UCLA (No. 54) and USC (No. 26).

The Runnin’ Utes are 0-3 in quadrant one and 4-0 in quadrant 4.

They will host the Oregon state Beavers (No. 198) on Wednesday at 9 p.m. MST on ESPNU.

Back in the JMHC! pic.twitter.com/R6WyAxRQcK

— Utah Basketball🏀 (w/ 😷) (@UtahMBB) January 4, 2021

Southern Utah Thunderbirds’ NET Rankings Hanging With Other In-State Programs

The Thunderbirds come in as the fourth highest ranked team in the NET at No. 135. They are the second highest NET ranking in the Big Sky Conference only behind Eastern Washington (No. 110).

Southern Utah is 7-1 overall and and 2-0 in conference play. Their wins came against Montana () twice, Utah Valley (No. 277) and Dixie State (No. 254). SUU’s games against Bethesda College (twice) and University of Saint Katherine don’t count towards the NET rankings because they are not Division I. The Thunderbirds only loss was to Loyola Marymount (No. 126) at the buzzer in the season opener.

According to the NET rankings, Southern Utah is 0-1 in Quad 1 and 4-0 Quad 4.

They had to cancel their games last week against Montana State due to COVID-19 concerns within their program. The Thunderbirds are scheduled to play Idaho (No. 333) twice on Thursday, January 7 and Saturday, January 9.

Thunderbird Men’s Basketball Pauses All Program Related Activities

>>> https://t.co/EhO0vSV4xm pic.twitter.com/bI0kLOGgz4

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) December 30, 2020

Weber State Wildcats Fourth Among In-State Teams In NET Rankings

The Wildcats are the No. 5 team in state according to the NET rankings at No. 162. Weber State is the third highest ranked team in the Big Sky Conference, behind Eastern Washington (No. 110) and Southern Utah (No. 135).

The Wildcats are 4-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. They have wins over Portland State (No. 285) on the road and Utah Valley (No. 277) at home. Their games against Westminster and Adams State don’t count towards the NET because they are not Division I schools. Weber’s losses came against Boise State (No. 13), Portland State (No. 285) and BYU (No. 52)

According to the NET rankings, Weber State is 0-1 in quadrant one, 0-1 in quadrant 2 and 2-1 in quadrant 4.

The Wildcats had their two games against Idaho State (No. 274) canceled this week due to COVID-19 related issues with the Bengals program. WSU is scheduled to play Southern Utah (No. 135) on Thursday, January 21 at 7 p.m. MST on Pluto TV.

More scheduling updates ⤵️

This week’s two-game series against Eastern Washington has been wiped out as a result of ongoing COVID-19 issues within EWU’s program.

Future schedule updates will be posted once available. https://t.co/YcGguD1s2I#PurpleReign #WeAreWeber

— Weber State MBB 🏀 (@WeberStateMBB) January 4, 2021

Dixie State Trailblazers NET Ranking

Coming in at No. 6 in the state of Utah with a No. 254 NET ranking is Dixie State. In their first season as a Division I program, the Trailblazers are the seventh highest ranked program in the WAC behind Grand Canyon (No. 137), California Baptist (No. 200), Tarleton State (No. 229), UT Rio Grande Valley (No. 231), Seattle U (No. 244) and New Mexico State (No. 252).

Dixie State is 4-2 overall this season. They have wins over North Dakota (No. 281) and Denver (No. 335). Their wins against Saint Katherine and Bethesda don’t count towards the NET. The Trailblazers lost to Southern Utah (No. 135) and Gonzaga (No. 1).

According to the NET rankings, Dixie State is 0-1 in Quad 1, 0-1 in Quad 2 and 2-0 in Quad 4.

The Trailblazers will begin conference play with a two-game series at home against New Mexico State (No. 252) on Friday, January 7 and Saturday, January 8 at 7 p.m. MST on the WAC Digital Network.

Getting ready for our first WAC game on Friday 🔥‼️#WeAreONE #DixieBlazers pic.twitter.com/vJviynqgkD

— Dixie State Basketball (@DIXIESTATEBBALL) January 2, 2021

Utah Valley Wolverines NET Ranking

The Wolverines are ranked No. 277 in the NET. They are the eighth highest ranked team in the WAC behind Grand Canyon (No. 137), California Baptist (No. 200), Tarleton State (No. 229), UT Rio Grande Valley (No. 231), Seattle U (No. 244), New Mexico State (No. 252) and Dixie State (No. 254).

Utah Valley is 2-5 this season. Their wins don’t count towards the NET rankings because Westminster and Adams State are not in Division I. They lost to BYU (No. 52), Southern Utah (No. 135), Wyoming (No. 153), Utah (No. 120) and Weber State (No. 162).

According to the NET rankings, Utah Valley is 0-1 in Quad 1, 0-1 in Quad 2 and 0-3 in Quad 3.

The Wolverines will begin WAC play with a two-game series at home against California Baptist (No. 200), starting on Friday, January 8 and Saturday, January 9 both at 6 p.m. MST on the KSL TV app.

Recap from Saturday in Ogden.⁣
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Next up ➡️ Double header with California Baptist on Friday and Saturday ✊🏼 ⁣
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Keep on boys!⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣#UVU #GoUVU #WACSports ⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ pic.twitter.com/YmMvf78FLn

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 4, 2021

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.