Florida basketball (24-6, 15-2) moved into the top five of the NET rankings after beating the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday and maintained that spot with another win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Tuesday.
Florida State ranked No. 33 in NET’s initial rankings in late November and slowly climbed into the top 10 by early February. Now, the Gators are competing for the top seed in the NCAA tournament after proving themselves to be one of the most improved teams this season. Two of Florida State’s six losses came against top-three programs and three against top-eight programs.
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During its current 10-game winning streak, Florida State has won all but one game (against Kentucky) by double digits, leading by an average of 23.2 points. Six of those wins came against Quadrant I opponents, leading to Florida State’s steady climb up the rankings.
The Gators are the only SEC team ranked in the top 15, with Vanderbilt right behind them at No. 16. Alabama follows at No. 17, with Tennessee and Arkansas occupying Nos. 19 and 20, respectively.
Florida’s final regular season game will be on the road against No. 27 Kentucky, another chance for the Gators to move into the first quadrant.
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 11-5 in Quadrant 1 play. The Arizona Wildcats (14-2), Auburn Tigers (5-11) and Kansas Jayhawks (8-8) are the only teams competing in 16 Quadrant I games this season. Arizona is the team with the most wins in the first quarter this year, followed by Duke (13 wins and 2 losses), Michigan State (11 wins and 1 loss) and the University of Florida.
Nonconference teams lost to No. 1 Duke, No. 3 Arizona and No. 8 UConn in the first quarter. All three are considered very good losses. Florida State also lost to No. 42 TCU. The Gators’ only non-conference first win came against No. 31 Miami at a neutral site (Jacksonville). The Hurricanes and Horned Frogs are both poised to maintain their first-place status through their respective conference championships.
Several of Florida State’s SEC games have come against first-quarter opponents. Missouri State (No. 59) still sits in Quadrant 1 with a road loss, which is good for the Gators, but Auburn continues to fall further away from the top 30, falling out of the first-quarter zone with home games.
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The first-quarter wins came against No. 16 Vanderbilt (away), No. 17 Alabama (home), No. 19 Tennessee (home), No. 20 Arkansas (home), No. 27 Kentucky, No. 29 Georgia (both away), No. 38 Texas (away), No. 43 Texas A&M (away) and No. 57 Oklahoma (away).
Quadrant 2 games
Florida State is 4-1 in Quadrant 2 play, with road wins over No. 90 Mississippi State and No. 110 South Carolina in conference play.
The other wins in the second quarter came against No. 75 Providence and No. 86 George Washington on the non-conference schedule, both of which were played at neutral sites.
Florida’s only Quadrant II loss came at home against No. 39 Auburn.
Quadrant 3 and Quadrant 4 games
Florida State is 4-0 in Quadrant 3 games, beating No. 77 Florida State, No. 108 Mississippi State and No. 110 South Carolina at home. The Seminoles were in Division II at one point and could finish the season 75th or better. Florida State’s third-quarter road win came against No. 76 LSU, which recently fell out of second-quarter territory.
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Florida went 5-0 against Q4 teams, defeating No. 185 Merrimack, No. 227 Colgate, No. 256 Dartmouth, No. 337 North Florida and No. 354 St. Francis by an average of 33.6 points.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida State basketball rankings after wins over Arkansas, St. Louis Miss.