By R.L. Bynum

The narrow loss at Pittsburgh made Carolina’s return to the AP Top 25 men’s poll brief. But the good news for the Tar Heels is that the 76–74 setback came in a Quad 1 game, and can be classified as a “good loss” for NCAA men’s tournament resume purposes.

UNC (9–5, 1–2 ACC) is one of six teams in the country that has played an NCAA-high six Quad 1 games, but is tied for the second-worst record in those games at 1–5 with South Dakota State (194 in the NET rankings). No 5-ranked Arizona (5 in NET) is 5–1, No. 24 Ohio State (10 in NET) is 3–3, No. 9 Gonzaga (13 in NET) is 3–3 and Florida (61 in NET) is 0–6.

NCAA quadrant system

Quadrant 1: Home games against teams with a NET ranking of 30 or better, neutral-site games against teams ranked 50 or better and road games against teams ranked 75 or better
Quadrant 2: Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3: Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4: Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower

Carolina’s lone Quad 1 win came 89–84 in overtime over the Buckeyes on Dec. 17 in New York. The other Quad 1 losses in addition to Pittsburgh (70 NET ranking) are against Iowa State (26), Alabama (8), at Indiana (19) and at Virginia Tech (38).

With College of Charleston (No. 23) debuting in the AP Top 25 poll and Ohio State (No. 24) and Iowa State (No. 25) returning, Carolina has faced five currently ranked non-conference teams (also No. 7 Alabama and No. 15 Indiana).

Under the current NET rankings, UNC only has five more Quad 1 games: Both matchups against No. 11 Virginia (16 in NET) and No. 16 Duke (17), in addition to the game at N.C. State (63).

There is a potential for two more, with Wake Forest (81) six away from UNC’s Feb. 7 game at Winston-Salem becoming a Quad 1 game, and Miami (33) three away from the Tar Heels’ Feb. 13 home game against the Hurricanes becoming Quad 1.

The Tar Heels, No. 29 in the NET rankings, are 3–0 in Quad 2 games, 4–0 in Quad 3 games and beat The Citadel in their lone Quad 4 contest.

When UNC beat Gardner Webb, that was a Quad 4 game, but the Bulldogs are now 144 in the NET, making that a Quad 3 game. Conversely, the UNCW win moved from a Quad 2 game to a Quad 3 after the Seahawks fell to 86 in the NET rankings.

This week’s two home games won’t help UNC in the NET rankings, with a Quad 3 game Wednesday against Wake Forest (81) and a Quad 4 game Saturday against Notre Dame (173). But the next Quad 1 game is after that on Jan. 10 at Virginia.

“Good losses” can only get Carolina so far, so a win in Charlottesville would be huge for the Tar Heels’ resume.

UNC quad breakdown

Opponent	NET ranking	Quad	Result
UNCW	86	3	Win
College of Charleston	49	2	Win
Gardner-Webb	144	3	Win
James Madison	44	2	Win
Portland	163	3	Win
Iowa State	26	1	Loss
Alabama	8	1	Loss
At Indiana	19	1	Loss
At Virginia Tech	38	1	Loss
Georgia Tech	147	3	Win
The Citadel	282	4	Win
Ohio State	10	1	Win
Michigan	68	2	Win
At Pittsburgh	70	1	Loss
Wake Forest	81	3
Notre Dame	173	4
At Virginia	16	1
At Louisville	347	4
Boston College	221	4
N.C. State	63	2
At Syracuse	159	3
Pittsburgh	70	2
At Duke	17	1
At Wake Forest	81	2
Clemson	78	3
Miami	33	2
At N.C. State	63	1
At Notre Dame	173	3
Virginia	16	1
At Florida State	241	4
Duke	17	1

Date	Month/day	Time/score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Location	Record
	October
28	Friday	W, 101–40	Johnson C. Smith	Home	Exhibition
	November
7	Monday	W, 69–56	UNCW	Home	1–0
11	Friday	W, 102–86	College of Charleston	Home	2–0
15	Tuesday	W, 72–66	Gardner-Webb	Home	3–0
20	Sunday	W, 80–64	James Madison	Home	4–0
			Phil Knight Invitational
24	Thursday	W, 89–81	First round: Portland	Portland	5–0
25	Friday	L, 70–65	Semifinals: Iowa State	Portland	5–1
27	Sunday	L, 103–101, 4 OTs	Consolation: No. 1 Alabama	Portland	5–2
			ACC/Big Ten Challenge
30	Wednesday	L, 77–65	No. 21 Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	5–3
	December
4	Sunday	L, 80–72	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	5–4, 0–1 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–59	Georgia Tech	Home	6–4, 1–1 ACC
13	Tuesday	W, 100–67	The Citadel	Home	7–4
			*CBS Sports Classic*
17	Saturday	W, 89–84, OT	Ohio State	New York	8–4
			*Jumpman Invitational*
21	Wednesday	W, 80–76	Michigan	Charlotte	9–4
30	Friday	L, 76–74	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	9–5, 1–2 ACC
	January
4	Wednesday	W, 88–79	Wake Forest	Home	10–5, 2–2 ACC
7	Saturday	W, 81–64	Notre Dame	Home	11–5, 3–2 ACC
10	Tuesday	L, 65–58	No. 14 Virginia	Charlottesville	11–6, 3–3 ACC
14	Saturday	W, 80–59	Louisville	Louisville, Ky.	12–6, 4–3 ACC
17	Tuesday	W, 72–64	Boston College	Home	13–6, 5–3 ACC
21	Saturday	W, 80–69	N.C. State	Home	14–6, 6–3 ACC
24	Tuesday	W, 72–68	Syracuse	Syracuse, N.Y.	15–6, 7–3 ACC
	February
1	Wednesday	L, 65–64	Pittsburgh	Home	15–7, 7–4 ACC
4	Saturday	L, 63–57	No. 12 Duke	Durham	15–8, 7–5 ACC
7	Tuesday	L, 92–85	Wake Forest	Winston-Salem	15–9, 7–6 ACC
11	Saturday	W, 91–71	Clemson	Home	16–9, 8–6 ACC
13	Monday	L, 80–72	No. 16 Miami	Home	16–10, 8–7 ACC
19	Sunday	L, 77–69	N.C. State	Raleigh	16–11, 8–8 ACC
22	Wednesday	W, 63–59	Notre Dame	South Bend, Ind.	17–11, 9–8 ACC
25	Saturday	W, 71–63	No. 14 Virginia	Home	18–11, 10–8 ACC
27	Monday	W, 77–66	Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	19–11, 11–8 ACC
	March
4	Saturday	L, 62–57	No. 12 Duke	Home	19–12, 11–9 ACC
			*ACC tournament*
8	Wednesday	W, 85–61	Boston College	Greensboro	20–12
9	Thursday	L, 68–59	No. 14 Virginia	Greensboro	20–13