Gonzaga Tops First NET Rankings of 2020-21 Season

James Snook/USA TODAY Sports

The NCAA released the first NET rankings of the 2020-21 men's college basketball season on Monday, with Gonzaga topping the list.

Baylor, Tennessee, Illinois and Villanova round out the top five, while Duke (No. 115) and Kentucky (No. 144) failed to make the top 100.

Surprisingly, Colgate landed the No. 16 spot. The Raiders have only played two games this season–both against Army–and won their lone victory by 44 points.

NET (The NCAA Evaluation Tool) is the ranking system the NCAA adopted in 2018 to replace Rating Percentage Index (RPI) as its primary evaluation tool in evaluating Division I men's basketball teams. NET initially relied on five components for its metrics, but the NCAA men's basketball committee reduced it to only two components in May 2020. Programs will be evaluated by Team Value Index (TVI) and adjusted efficiency, and winning percentage, adjusted winning percentage and scoring margin are no longer considered.

The NET rankings will be updated every day for the rest of the season.

Here are the top 25 teams listed in the first NET rankings of the 2020-21 season:

1. Gonzaga (7–0)
2. Baylor (6–0)
3. Tennessee (6–0)
4. Illinois (7–3)
5. Villanova (8–1)
6. Michigan (7–0)
7. Iowa (7–2)
8. Houston (7–0)
9. Texas (7–1)
10. Missouri (6–0)
11. Wisconsin (8–1)
12. Saint Louis (7–1)
13. Boise State (8–1)
14. Colorado (7–3)
15. Clemson (8–1)
16. Colgate (1–1)
17. Rutgers (7–2)
18. Texas Tech (8–3)
19. Oregon (6–1)
20. Drake (12–0)
21. Arizona (9–1)
22. Florida (5–1)
23. LSU (6–2)
24. Arkansas (9–1)
25. Syracuse (6–1)