The season’s first NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings were released on Monday, ranking Cal Poly Men’s Basketball No. 83 in the country. 

This comes after the Mustangs’ thrilling road victory against the Stanford Cardinal, garnering national attention.

The NET rankings in college basketball evaluate teams based on game results, strength of schedule, game location, margin of victory, offensive/defensive efficiency and a quadrant system that values wins and losses differently based on opponent strength and location. 

They also help determine NCAA Tournament bids and seeding.

The Mustangs did not even crack the Top 300 NET-ranked teams in the previous two seasons to end their year.

In 2024, they finished at No. 342 and dead last in Big West play. In 2023, Cal Poly ended up at No. 308, second to last in their conference. 

Currently, the Mustangs are slated fourth in the Big West in terms of NET. 

UC Irvine paces the conference at No. 24, followed by CSU Northridge, UC San Diego and Cal Poly, which round out the top four teams. The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos sit just below the Mustangs at No. 84 in the country. 

Cal Poly has been going against the odds all year. After a pre-season prediction of finishing last in the Big West Conference, they are on pace to prove that prediction to be a mistake. 

The Mustangs will hit the road again on Thursday and look to improve their NET rating once again when they take on the UC Davis Aggies.