Florida basketball (17-6, 8-2) moved into the NET top 10 after a 19-point win over the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday night, the Gators’ third straight victory over an SEC team.
Florida State leads Michigan State, Nebraska and Purdue since the last update, marking the orange and blue’s first top-10 appearance in 2025-26. While there are several teams with better overall records — Florida is the only team in the top 16 with six losses — Florida’s resume ranks third among college basketball’s Quadrants I and II games (17 games).
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While the Wizards also recorded 17 games in the first/second quarter, the Huskies only had a 5-12 record in such games. The Gators have compiled an impressive 11-6 record against quality opponents, including three losses to teams ranked in the top seven. Although the NET rankings are directly tied to NCAA tournament seeding, the committee does use them as a resource when developing the rankings each March.
Florida State has several chances to be a No. 2 seed or better, plus four first-quarter chances. The Gators will travel to No. 35 Georgia on Wednesday before returning home to face No. 28 Kentucky, both of which are Quadrant 1 games based on the current standings.
Breaking down Florida State’s wins by quadrant
Before looking at Florida’s resume, it’s important to understand how the quadrants are divided. The location of a game in relation to the quadrant is just as important as the strength of the opponent. As rankings change, so does the quality of wins.
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Quadrant 1: 1-30 at home, 1-50 neutral, 1-75 away
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Quadrant 2: 31-75 at home, 51-100 neutral, 76-135 away
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Quadrant 3: 76-160 at home, 101-200 neutral, 135-240 away
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Quadrant 4: 161-353 at home, 201-353 neutral, 241-353 away
Quadrant 1 games
Florida State is 6-4 in Quadrant 1 play.
Non-conference teams lost to No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 Duke and No. 7 UConn. All three of those games were considered very good losses, but they did narrow Florida’s path to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators’ only non-conference first win came against No. 38 Miami at a neutral site (Jacksonville). The Hurricanes are firmly in the first quadrant.
Several of Florida State’s SEC games have come against first-quarter opponents. Missouri State (No. 63) still has a road loss in Quadrant 1, which is good for the Gators, but Auburn has recently fallen out of the top 30 and is a Quadrant 2 loss. The wins came against No. 14 Vanderbilt, No. 21 Tennessee, No. 23 Alabama, No. 40 Texas A&M and No. 75 Oklahoma. The Sooners are on the dividing line between the first and second quarters, which could impact Florida State’s recovery moving forward.
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Quadrant 2 games
In Quadrant II play, Florida State is 5-2, with home wins over No. 35 Georgia, No. 58 LSU, and a win over No. 113 South Carolina in the conference round. The other two Q2 wins came on the non-conference schedule against No. 78 Providence and No. 92 George Washington, both of which were played at neutral sites.
Florida State’s two losses in Quadrant 2 came at neutral sites against No. 53 TCU and No. 31 Auburn. However, the Tigers are just one step away from re-entering Quadrant 1 territory.
Quadrant 3 and Quadrant 4 games
The only Quadrant III game Florida has played so far is at home against No. 95 Florida State. The Seminoles have been in decline for much of the season but have recently climbed more than 40 spots in the goal differential rankings. The Seminoles still need to reach No. 75 to enter the second quarter.
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Florida went 5-0 against Q4 teams, defeating No. 196 Colgate, No. 197 Merrimack, No. 232 Dartmouth, No. 338 North Florida and No. 352 St. Francis by an average of 33.6 points.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball’s NET rankings after defeating Texas A&M
