TCU basketball is 65th in NET rankings entering pivotal week against Kansas, Baylor
The NET rankings haven’t been a positive talking point for TCU basketball in recent years.
The NCAA Evaluation Tool, commonly referred to as the “NET,” was introduced a few years ago as a way to help the selection committee fill out its March Madness bracket. Well, TCU found itself among the “snubs” of Selection Sunday in 2019, the inaugural year of the NET.
The Horned Frogs were ranked No. 52 in the NET, but didn’t receive an at-large bid as lower-ranked teams such as Ohio State (55) and St. John’s (73) were taken instead.
Fast-forward to now and TCU is still scratching its had over the NET rankings. The Frogs checked in at No. 65 in the first NET rankings of this season.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon hoped his team would have been higher with a 9-2 start, including going 2-0 in the first two Big 12 road games.
“We simply haven’t won the games by enough,” Dixon said. “That’s the new NET. Ten-point leads need to end up being 20-point wins. We’ve had big leads in just about every game, so the key is to maintain them for 40 minutes. Every basket and every possession counts.”
TCU, for instance, led by as many as 18 at Kansas State on Saturday. The Frogs ended up with a seven-point victory. They had a nine-point lead on Oklahoma during a Dec. 6 game, but ended up losing it.
The good news for TCU is that it can boost its NET standing in a big way this week. The Frogs host No. 6 Kansas on Tuesday and then No. 2 Baylor on Saturday. Tip-off for the KU game is at 9 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena. Tip-off for the Baylor game is set for 2 p.m.
Even though KU is No. 6 in the latest Associated Press poll, it checked in at No. 27 in the NET on Monday. Baylor, meanwhile, is No. 2 in both the AP poll and NET.
This will mark the first time that TCU has hosted back-to-back top-10 teams, but Dixon is treating it as any other week.
“To me, it’s just continuing the process of us getting our whole team together and becoming the team that I envisioned,” Dixon said. “It’s just the next opponent on the schedule for us. This is a league with five teams ranked in the top 20, so it is what it is. We’re pretty much used to it.”
Feeding Samuel
Junior center Kevin Samuel had only three field goal attempts in Saturday’s victory at K-State. Dixon acknowledged those inside touches must increase for Samuel and forward Jaedon LeDee.
Dixon said it’s a combination of the post players getting better position down low, the guards feeding it inside more consistently and coaching.
“It’s a three-way street,” Dixon said. “Our big guys can score and we’ve got to get them the ball. It’s something we can improve.”
Big 12’s NET
The Big 12 had eight teams in the top 65 of the first NET rankings by the NCAA: Baylor (2), Texas (9), Texas Tech (18), Kansas (27), West Virginia (29), Oklahoma State (35), Oklahoma (49) and TCU (65).
Then there’s a significant drop-off to Kansas State (203) and Iowa State (209). Hey, one saving grace is there’s a Power Five program ranked even lower (Washington of the Pac-12 checked in at No. 237).
March Madness
The NCAA announced its plans to host the entire 2021 men’s basketball championship in Indiana on Monday. The majority of the tournament’s 67 games will take place in Indianapolis.
Plans remain the same for Selection Sunday to be held March 14 and the Final Four on April 3 and 5. Preliminary-round dates are to be determined.
The tournament is being hosted by Ball State, Butler, the Horizon League, Indiana, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Purdue.
