Brownell says Tigers can't pay attention to NET rankings

Brownell points during the win over FSU last Saturday.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Jan 30 16:32:03 GMT-04:00 2023

Brad Brownell says the NET rankings are not easy to understand, and it’s clear that two losses from earlier this season are haunting the Tigers. But he also made it clear that the rankings are not the final word.

Clemson is putting together one of the best seasons in program history. The Tigers are 10-1 in the ACC and 18-4 overall. Clemson has won 10 games in the ACC just six times, and 11 times just once (and that was exactly 11). In fact, Clemson has won 11 conference games just twice, but one of those was in the old Southern Conference.

If Clemson defeats Boston College Tuesday night, the Tigers will be 11-1 in the league, only the second time a Clemson team has won 11 league games in the ACC. The Tigers are just one of 11 teams nationally with as many as 18 wins on the season.

But the Tigers are not a darling of the NCAA Net Rankings, sitting at 58th nationally after defeating Florida State on the road last Saturday.

So, what are the NET rankings? The NCAA replaced the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) with the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) to evaluate tournament résumés throughout the season.

The NET algorithm is composed of two parts: team value index (TVI) and an adjusted net efficiency rating. TVI is a result-based feature that rewards teams who beat quality opponents, especially on the road. Meanwhile, adjusted net efficiency accounts for strength of opponent, as well as game location (home, away, neutral).

It is also worth noting that all games carry the same weight. So, a game played in November means the same as a game played in early March.

Brownell said its not something he worries about.

“Certainly, we keep an eye on them, but I can't control it, so we don't really worry about it very much,” Brownell told TigerNet. “I mean, I know there are a million factors involved and people think it's the be all end all. I don't think it is. I think we kind of look at it because it's got NCAA attached to it. There are a million different things they are looking at. It's a tool in the toolbox. I don't get overly concerned. Do I think there's something that is wrong with it? Yes. Do I think Florida State is the same team that they were early in the year? Clearly, they're not; they're much better.”

The Seminoles have been better of late, and Clemson has won 10 of 11 games since an early December loss to Loyola. That loss, and the loss to an abysmal South Carolina squad, are hurting Clemson in the rankings. In other words, Clemson isn’t playing anyone good enough, at least according to the rankings, to really improve its stock and also can’t afford any type of loss to teams below it in the rankings.

“Their team (FSU) is not judged on who they are now. They're judged on what they did early,” Brownell said. “Obviously we had a couple of tough losses early in the year where we didn't play very well. Those seem to be weighing very heavily on our metrics. You know, we're a different team now. PJ Hall is much healthier. We've survived some other injuries, but we've probably gotten better for it. So I don't know, you know, how else to comment other than it's not easy to understand.”

Brownell on the health of Brevin Galloway and Alex Hemenway

“I don't know what both guys (Hemenway and Galloway) are gonna look like. We didn't really practice much yesterday. They were down there walking through some stuff with our guys. We'll see what they look like today in practice and then have update. So day to day is what those guys are. They're both close, but are they good enough? I don't know yet.”

Clemson-BC notes (via Clemson communications)

• The 7 p.m. contest Tuesday will be televised on ACCN with Jon Meterparel and Randolph Childress calling the action, while Don Munson and Tim Bourret will call the action on the radio waves. The radio call will be available on the Clemson Athletic Network and ClemsonTigers.com.

• Clemson has a 7-1 record in the month of January, the most victories in January since 1989-90. They went 8-3 that month. The record for wins in January is 10, set in January 1987.

• Hunter Tyson (27) and Chase Hunter (26) were the first Clemson teammates to score 25+ in a game since 2002 within the 82-81 win at FSU.

• Clemson will face Boston College for the 29th time in program history. The Tigers lead the series 20-8 and have won 10 out of the last 11 games, including the last four on the road. Boston College Head Coach Earl Grant served as an assistant coach for Brad Brownell at Clemson from 2010-2014.

• Clemson will attempt to tie the school record for ACC road wins in a season when the Tigers play at Boston College on Jan. 31. Clemson is 4-1 so far this year on the ACC road, just the sixth time Clemson has recorded four league road wins in a season, the first time since the 2013-14 season.

• The Clemson record for ACC road wins in a season is five, set by the 1986-87 Tigers led by ACC Player of the Year Horace Grant. Clemson won its first five ACC road games that year and then finished 5-2.

• Clemson has won at least four ACC road wins in the same year in 1976-77 (4-2, Tree Rollins senior year), 1986-87 (5-2, Horace Grant senior year), 1996-97 (4-4, Sweet 16 team), 2008-09 (4-4) and 2013-14 (4-5).