Syracuse – The NCAA released its first NET rankings for the 2025-26 season and the news was not good for Syracuse.
The Orange opened at No. 90.
Thirteen ACC teams own better NET rankings than Syracuse.
The NET is the NCAA’s tool to sort its teams by various criteria and thereby assign a value to every game based on the teams’ NET ranking. Those NET rankings in March help determine the NCAA Tournament field.
Syracuse, at No. 90, will play Tennessee, No. 12, Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the JMA Wireless Dome.
Right now, that’s a Quad 1 game for SU and a Quad 2 game for the Volunteers.
Here’s how the system works:
Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
Syracuse started last season ranked No. 177 in the NET and ended last season ranked No. 133. The Orange went 14-19 last year. SU was 4-2 when the first NET rankings were released last season.
The first NET rankings can identify the best teams in college basketball but there are always anomalies. Tulsa (No. 27) and Cal Baptist (61) will likely be nowhere near those numbers in March. UCLA (76) and Ole Miss (96) should climb.
The Orange is 4-3 this season and is coming off consecutive losses to Houston (NET 18), Kansas (17) and Iowa State (7). Syracuse’s four wins, three of them in the JMA Wireless Dome, have come against Monmouth (207), Drexel (278), Delaware State (362) and Binghamton (364).
After Tennessee, the Orange’s non-conference schedule includes Hofstra (106), Northeastern (176), St. Joseph’s (267) and Mercyhurst (268). Again, all those numbers will change as the season progresses.
The NET right now is concerning for Syracuse. But the ACC as a whole has 10 teams in the Top 60. If that trend continues, the conference will offer ways for Syracuse to improve its NET standing.
Here are the initial NET rankings for the ACC:
2) Duke
9) Louisville
26) North Carolina
31) Virginia
34) Clemson
38) Miami
39) SMU
40) N.C. State
52) California
56) Wake Forest
82) Florida State
84) Virginia Tech
86) Notre Dame
90) Syracuse
107) Stanford
147) Pittsburgh
166) Boston College
201) Georgia Tech
