Vanderbilt led throughout Saturday’s 88-72 win over Florida, but the starters stayed on the floor late in a lopsided victory.
Per Robbie Weinstein of 247Sports, head coach Jerry Stackhouse said he stuck with his usual rotation to avoid losing any ground in the NCAA’s NET rankings. He called it “disappointing” that he couldn’t clear his bench because of systems that prioritize efficiency.
“I hate the fact that we get up 16 or 18 points, and the guys that have helped us get here are the practice guys — you can’t even really put them in the game,” Stackhouse said. “It sucks, because that is not the way the game is supposed to be played, and those guys deserve to maybe get a few minutes there at the end. But because we are aware of trying to get something, we have to do some things to keep our foot on the gas a little bit.”
NET weighs factors such as strength of schedule, location, and quality of wins. Scoring margin isn’t directly baked into the formula, but it considers adjusted net efficiency based on points per 100 possessions.
Vanderbilt ranks 54th in RPI, but far lower in other metrics. The Commodores are 87th in NET and ESPN’s BPI.
By winning six of its last seven games, Vanderbilt improved to 16-13. However, the one loss came on the road against an LSU team that previously hadn’t won a game since Dec. 28.
As a result, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi left Vanderbilt off his latest March Madness bracket. The waning NET rating won’t help Stackhouse’s squad make its first men’s basketball tournament appearance since 2017.