PROVIDENCE — This isn’t easy to explain but one thing is clear when it comes to ranking the best college basketball teams this season: the NET has arrived and the RPI is dead.
The NET is the new composite tool the NCAA has created to rank the nation’s 353 teams. NET stands for NCAA Evaluation Tool and it replaces the Ratings Percentage Index.
The first release of the NET occurred on Monday and, not surprisingly, left everyone in the sport a bit confused. After only five or so games, the statistical sample is much too small to get a good read on what the NET is truly measuring, but when Ohio State led the way in the NET but is 16th in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, it was a surprise.