It’s a dumb system, let me explain why I think so.

Let’s talk about UConn, one of the teams with a track to possibly land an overall one seed in the NCAA Tournament. They’re 24-3, and fell to 10th in the NET after a recent home loss to Creighton. The Blue Jays are 73rd in the NET after beating UConn on the road in a big win for a team who’ve been riddled with injuries this season. What’s fun about the Quad systems, which I outlined last week, is the spacing is so arbitrary.

Advertisement

In January, UConn went on the road and beat Creighton, at the time of the win it was considered a Quad 2 win. But because UConn lost at home the next go around, Creighton’s NET ranking was boosted enough for them to slip inside the top 75 making the UConn win at Creighton a Quad 1 win, and making their home loss a Quad 2 loss instead of a Quad 3 loss.

Remember in these circumstances Q3 and Q4 losses are big bad, whereas Q1 and Q2 losses are considered kind of fine. So UConn taking a pretty bad loss at home ended up not being so bad.

Let’s also review the dramatic comeback that fell short for Vanderbilt against Mizzou. If Mizzou had won the Vandy game by 20, or maybe even 15, the Commodores likely slip below the 15th spot in the NET which would mean the win for the Tigers would only be a regular Quad 1 win and not a Quad 1A win!

Makes sense, right?

Advertisement

Hardly.

There are ways to weigh the quality of a win and a loss with out randomized Quads that are set up now. Why set up the NET if you can’t discern between beating #30 at home or #31, but one is a Q1 and the other is a Q2?

For more Bubble coverage, make sure you subscribe to Rock M+ for DataMizzou’s excellent bracket projections which dropped yesterday, where he has a good system to project where the Tigers will end up:

Today I’ve got a double dose of NCAA Tournament analysis. We’ll look over the bubble picture AND the at-large group. After Mizzou’s….exciting?…win a night ago, the Tigers have thrust themselves into the field once again. As has been the theme, they haven’t reached safety — nor have they been totally eliminated yet. The ultimate purgatory! As such, they’ll be featured in both groups. Enough talking, let’s dish the data.

Sticking with the basketball theme, I’m in a weird habit of publishing Study Hall at different times, getting it up when it’s ready versus waiting to publish the following morning. I like taking a bit more time to process than trying to knock it out right after the game. Anyway, talkin’ Vandy:

This game was probably their best game of the year also… until it wasn’t. The Tigers started off the game poorly, going down 9-3 before finally stringing together a few stops.. But the offense was stilted until about the 13 minute mark when they strung together a 8-0 run, that gave them the lead for the first, and last, time. Jayden Stone broke and 11-11 tie with 11:57 left in the first half. Vandy would not tie or lead the rest of the game.

For all the comeback that just fell short, somewhat lost in the mix is Mizzou might have played the best basketball of their season for around 30 minutes. It wasn’t great to watch the lead slip away, but you hope they take the lesson and try to put it together over the next two games where Arkansas and Tennessee await.

Advertisement

The difference was simply a measure of volume, as Mizzou shot the ball quite well but had 34 fewer shot attempts. This was a combination of 30 turnovers for the home team and 14 offensive rebounds for Auburn. The visitors turned these extra opportunities into 38 points, constantly keeping Mizzou at bay.

That’s three losses in a row for the ladies with LSU up next, and LSU is coming off a win at Ole Miss.

Cayden Lee is the headliner, transferring from Ole Miss and reuniting with his close friend and quarterback Austin Simmons. He arrives with a track record of production, putting up 1,623 yards and seven touchdowns in three seasons at Ole Miss. He is expected to step into a major role immediately. Caleb Goodie comes from Cincinnati and Colorado State, where he built a reputation as a deep-ball threat in the Big 12 and brings an element of vertical explosiveness the Tigers sorely lacked at times in 2025. Goodie’s 919 career yards and six touchdowns combine with Lee as a solid productive receiving transfer corps.

With the reinforcements coming via the transfer portal, this could be an exciting group to follow.

Rock M Radio: Dive Cuts prepped for the week

We’re back on schedule. Hop onto YouTube and subscribe.

Subscribe to Rock M Radio on Apple Podcasts. Or stream episodes through Megaphone or Spotify. Have a question for us? Leave a 5-star review with your question and that show just might answer it in an upcoming episode!

If you like Rock M Radio drop us a Review and be sure to subscribe on your preferred podcasting platform. Follow @RockMRadio on Twitter and if you haven’t already head over to our YouTube channel and click that subscribe button!

Advertisement

(** RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)