Do the NET rankings reward running up the Score?

[stag76]

Definitely a wonky article written from the ACC perspective, but in trying to figure out why so few ACC schools are projected into brackets compared to the Big 12 —— it seems all the Big 12 schools are benefiting from Iowa State’s easy wins against inferior opponents in the nonconference part of their schedule. After winning 9 homes at home against Quad 4 opponents by an average margin of 37.4 points, Iowa State was 7th in the NET rankings at the end of December. Therefore, every conference game Iowa State played, their opponent had an opportunity for a Quad 1 win.

Offensive and defensive efficiencies, adjusted for strength of schedule, are among the NET’s primary components. But if your raw efficiencies, points per possession scored and allowed, are abnormally high, the adjustment can be negligible.
Consider Iowa State, one of 10 Big 12 teams with a nonconference schedule strength of below 200th, 323rd in the Cyclones’ case.
None of their 11 nonconference victories is classified as Quadrant 1, the toughest, by the NET. Nine of the 11 are Quad 4, the easiest, and Iowa State’s average margin in those nine outings was 37.4 points.

“This thing’s become a complete numbers game,” N.C. State's Kevin Keatts said. “Unfortunately, I think it takes away from the sportsmanship. ... You’ve got to try and beat the heck out of people just to improve your NET.”

richmond.com/sports/net-rankings-acc-big-12/article_eba150b6-d0d7-11ee-abe7-d7f0618df6c9.html

I realize NET rankings aren’t a major concern for Fairfield or other MAAC teams, but it seems wrong to me to reward a team for running up the score against an inferior opponent.

[typhaon]

It's all a mess. Everyone is too aware of the formulas.

It almost reminds me a bit of the struggles with modern political/issues polling.

[HKstag]

NET caps the winning margin at 10 so winning by 10, 12, or 30 are all considered the same.

www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2022-12-05/college-basketballs-net-rankings-explained

[typhaon]

I may have misread but that article and others makes it sounds like efficiency is what matters and margin (explicitly) is no longer considered. However... one can be very efficient by running up the score vs. an inferior opponent - so winning by a ton could be helpful.

Did I missing something?

[HKstag]

Wow, you’re right. I didn’t realize they took that component out recently. So I guess run up those scores, especially on the road.

[stag76]

Not proof exactly, but another data point showing the Big 12 has several schools that played a very weak nonconference schedule but are in the top 40 for NET.