Houston atop college basketball's NET rankings to start season

The NCAA's initial NET rankings were released Monday morning, with the Houston Cougars -- who finished the 2022-23 regular season atop the NET rankings -- once again leading the way at No. 1.

Fellow Big 12 member BYU sits at No. 2, while Arizona, Creighton and Purdue round out the top five. The top 10 is not without surprises, as Colorado State and Princeton are Nos. 7 and 8, respectively. The Rams improved to 8-0 over the weekend, a record that includes a 69-48 win over Creighton and four wins away from home. Princeton is also 8-0, with five true road wins.

Other notable rankings include reigning national champion UConn at No. 9, Kansas at No. 16, North Carolina at No. 32, Duke at No. 37 and Kentucky at No. 45.

Along with Colorado State and Princeton, other teams from outside the power conferences ranked in the top 30 areFlorida Atlantic (No. 11), Nevada (No. 21), Indiana State (No. 22), San Diego State (No. 24) and McNeese (No. 30).

The NET -- NCAA Evaluation Tool -- was introduced before the 2018-19 season, replacing the RPI as the primary sorting tool for the NCAA tournament selection committee. The formula, which remains a mystery to the public, was adjusted in 2020, removing winning percentage, adjusted winning percentage and scoring margin.

Team value index (TVI) and adjusted net efficiency are the two remaining components in the NET rankings. TVI is a results-based metric, while adjusted efficiency is net points per 100 possessions, adjusted for opponent and location.

The NET rankings are then used to sort wins and losses into four quadrants.

The NET rankings are updated daily on the NCAA's website.