Gonzaga debuts at No. 3 in NET rankings with two Quad 1 victories

Remember the angst last season when Gonzaga was stationed on the bubble, hadn’t recorded a Quad 1 victory until February and was in jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament?

No such drama early on this season. The Zags are off to a 7-1 start – same as last year – but their November victories are carrying more clout this time around with a pair of Quad 1 wins.

That’s the takeaway based on the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, which debuted Monday with Gonzaga listed at No. 3. The Zags were 6-1 a year ago with wins over UCLA and USC when they debuted at No. 31 in the NET rankings.

The NET rankings are a primary sorting tool to evaluate and seed tournament teams. It utilizes a quadrant system to categorize wins/losses: Quad 1 vs. home 1-30 NET, neutral 1-50, away 1-75; Quad 2 home 31-75, neutral 51-100, away 76-135; Quad 3 vs. home 76-160, neutral 101-200, away 136-240; and Quad 4 home 161-353, neutral 201-353, away 241-353.

According to an article on the NCAA.com website, the number of Quadrant 1 wins and Quadrant 3/4 losses will be “incredibly important” when it comes time for NCAA Tournament selection and seeding. The NET rankings will be updated daily.

Gonzaga’s 101-63 rout over No. 22 Baylor and an 80-67 road win against San Diego State account for GU’s two Q1 wins. The Zags’ 86-78 overtime loss to No. 29 West Virginia is a Q1 loss.

The Zags are 2-0 in Q2 with an 88-80 victory over No. 33 Arizona State at the McCarthey Athletic Center and an 89-73 win over No. 71 Indiana at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Tennessee, with a 2-0 Quad 1 record, and Auburn, 4-0 vs. Quad 1 after winning the Maui Invitational, are first and second, respectively. The rest of the top 10: No. 4 Duke, followed by Pitt, Florida, Marquette, Kentucky, Kansas and Illinois.

The Zags face Kentucky on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Gonzaga’s 89-85 road win over the Wildcats at Rupp Arena last February was the Zags’ first Quad 1 win and they went on a hot streak that resulted in a five seed in March Madness.

In addition to Kentucky, Gonzaga’s nonconference schedule includes probable Q1 matchups against No. 39 UConn on Dec. 14 at Madison Square Garden and No. 16 UCLA on Dec. 28 at the Intuit Dome, the Los Angeles Clippers’ home arena.

Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga’s rival in the West Coast Conference, debuted at No. 25. The Gaels, defending WCC regular-season and tournament champions, are 1-1 in Quad 1.

Oregon State, an affiliate member of the WCC along with Washington State, is next at No. 49 with San Francisco at No. 52. WSU is fifth at 87, followed by Santa Clara 124, Loyola Marymount 211, Pacific 266, Pepperdine 279, San Diego 317 and Portland 331.

There’s a new metric in the NET rankings: BartTorvik.com’s WAB, which stands for Wins Above Bubble, essentially how much better a team is than one on the tournament bubble.

GU is No. 9 in WAB in the first NET rankings. Auburn is first, and Tennessee seventh.

Arizona, led by former Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd, is No. 65 in the NET with a 0-4 Quad 1 mark. The Wildcats are 3-4, their first losing record since they were 3-4 in the 2009-10 season. Boise State, guided by ex-GU assistant Leon Rice, is No. 18 with a 1-1 Q1 record.

Eastern Washington, under first-year coach Dan Monson, is No. 188 and Idaho is 303. No. 100 Northern Colorado is the highest ranked Big Sky Conference team.