March Madness 2019: NET rankings 101, explaining the NCAA Tournament's new selection tool replacing RPI

Written By E.Jay Zarett
NCAA basketball
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The NCAA Tournament selection committee is using a new system to rank teams this season: the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).

The new tool replaces the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), which had been used since 1981, and is designed to produce results that are as “accurate as possible while also evaluating team performance fairly,” according to the NCAA.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new NET rankings:

How is the field of 68 picked for March Madness?

NCAA Tournament berths are earned in one of two ways. There are 32 teams that automatically qualify by winning their respective conference tournaments. The rest of the field (36 teams) receive at-large bids, which are handed out by a selection committee composed of 10 school and conference administrators.

The committee uses a variety of factors to select teams for at-large bids, including the new NET rankings.

What are the NET rankings?

The NET rankings are a sorting tool the NCAA will use to evaluate teams in contention for at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament.

The rankings will rely on five factors — team value index, net efficiency, winning percentage, adjusted win percentage and scoring margin.

Team value index 

The value index is an algorithm developed to reward teams who beat good teams. It is a results-oriented component of the NET and is based on game results. It takes into account three factors: opponent, location and winner.

Net efficiency 

Net efficiency is a team’s offensive efficiency minus its defense efficiency. 

Winning percentage

Winning percentage is calculated by dividing a team’s wins by its total games played.

Adjusted win percentage

This metric is a winning percentage that is weighted based on location and result. Here is the breakdown:

Road win = + 1.4
Neutral win = + 1
Home win = +.6
Road loss = -.6
Neutral loss = -1
Home loss = -1.4

Scoring margin

Scoring margin is a team’s total points minus its opponent’s points. The winning margin was capped at 10 points per game “to prevent rankings from encouraging unsportsmanlike play,” according to the NCAA.

Why was the RPI replaced?

The RPI was criticized in the years before it was replaced, as experts said it did not provide a complete analysis. The RPI was calculated based on winning percentage, strength of schedule and opponents' strength of schedule while the NET takes into account multiple other factors.

“What has been developed is a contemporary method of looking at teams analytically, using results-based and predictive metrics that will assist the Men’s Basketball Committee as it reviews games throughout the season,” Dan Gavitt, senior vice president of basketball for the NCAA, said in a July press release.

What are team sheets?

The selection committee uses team sheets to evaluate and compare programs when determining at-large bids. The sheets contain information about “strength of schedule, performance against teams sorted by quadrants and results,” according to

A team’s complete record, broken down into four quadrants, is included on its sheet.

Here is how the NCAA breaks down its quadrant system (all numbers refer to the NET ranking of opponents played).


Here’s what a team sheet looks like:

Team's standing in the NET as well as its ranking in the ESPN strength of record, BPI, KPI, KenPom and Sagarin are also included.