By R.L. Bynum
There was good and bad news for Carolina in the NET rankings coming out of the Tar Heels’ 80–69 home victory over N.C. State, with Selection Sunday 49 days away.
The good was that the Tar Heels (14–6, 6–3 ACC) moved up six spots to No. 32 in the NET rankings. The bad was that the Wolfpack (15–5, 5–4) fell nine spots to No. 36, meaning what UNC thought was a Quad 1 victory is now a Quad 2 win, reverting its Quad 1 record to 1–6. The rematch in Raleigh still should be a Quad 1 game.
Carolina is 4–0 in Quad 2 games, 3–0 in Quad 3 games and 6–0 in Quad 4 games.
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
Even though Syracuse (13–7, 6–3) moved up 10 spots to No. 100 after the Orange’s 80–63 win Saturday at Georgia Tech, UNC’s 9 p.m. game at Syracuse (ESPN) still will be another Quad 2 game. It would have been a Quad 3 game a couple of weeks ago.
The bad news from Syracuse’s win is that it downgrades Carolina’s victory over the Yellow Jackets (8–11, 1–8) from a Quad 3 win to a Quad 4 win.

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UNC has potentially gained another Quad 1 opportunity, thanks to Wake Forest (14–6, 6–3) beating league-leading Clemson (16–4, 8–1) before losing to second-place Virginia (15–3, 7–2). That has increased the Deacons’ NET ranking to 71, making the Tar Heels’ game in Winston-Salem a Quad 1 as long as the Deacs’ can keep their ranking at 75 or higher.
That leaves the Tar Heels with five more Quad 1 games if opponents stay at about the same ranking. In addition to that rematch with Wake Forest on Feb. 7 and the N.C. State game in Raleigh on Feb 19, the home matchup with Virginia on Feb. 25, as well as both Duke games (Feb 4 and March 4), should be Quad 1 contests.
UNC quad breakdown
Opponent | NET ranking | Quadrant | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|
UNCW | 129 | 3 | Win |
College of Charleston | 41 | 2 | Win |
Gardner-Webb | 193 | 4 | Win |
James Madison | 84 | 3 | Win |
Portland | 162 | 3 | Win |
Iowa State | 10 | 1 | Loss |
Alabama | 3 | 1 | Loss |
At Indiana | 23 | 1 | Loss |
At Virginia Tech | 55 | 1 | Loss |
Georgia Tech | 180 | 4 | Win |
The Citadel | 313 | 4 | Win |
Ohio State | 24 | 1 | Win |
Michigan | 76 | 2 | Win |
At Pittsburgh | 65 | 1 | Loss |
Wake Forest | 71 | 3 | Win |
Notre Dame | 194 | 4 | Win |
At Virginia | 13 | 1 | Loss |
At Louisville | 334 | 4 | Win |
Boston College | 201 | 4 | Win |
N.C. State | 36 | 2 | Win |
At Syracuse | 100 | 2 | |
Pittsburgh | 65 | 2 | |
At Duke | 29 | 1 | |
At Wake Forest | 71 | 1 | |
Clemson | 59 | 2 | |
Miami | 44 | 2 | |
At N.C. State | 36 | 1 | |
At Notre Dame | 194 | 3 | |
Virginia | 13 | 1 | |
At Florida State | 187 | 3 | |
Duke | 29 | 1 |
Team | League | Overall |
---|---|---|
Clemson | 10–3 | 18–6 |
No. 8 Virginia | 9–3 | 17–4 |
Pittsburgh | 9–3 | 16–7 |
No. 19 Miami | 10–4 | 19–5 |
No. 22 N.C. State | 9–4 | 19–5 |
Duke | 8–5 | 17–7 |
North Carolina | 7–5 | 15–8 |
Wake Forest | 7–6 | 15–9 |
Syracuse | 7–6 | 14–10 |
Florida State | 6–7 | 8–16 |
Boston College | 5–8 | 11–13 |
Virginia Tech | 4–8 | 14–9 |
Notre Dame | 2–10 | 10–13 |
Louisville | 1–11 | 3–20 |
Georgia Tech | 1–12 | 8–15 |
Monday’s result
No. 19 Miami 81, Duke 59
Tuesday’s games
North Carolina at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ESPN
Louisville at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., ACCN
No. 22 N.C. State at No. 8 Virginia, 9 p.m., ACCN
Wednesday’s games
Notre Dame at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., RSNs
Boston College at Virginia Tech, 7 p.m., ACCN
Syracuse at Florida State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday’s games
Pittsburgh at Florida State, noon, ESPN2 or ESPNU
No. 22 N.C. State at Boston College, noon, RSNs
Clemson at North Carolina, 2 p.m., ESPN2
Virginia Tech at Notre Dame, 2 p.m., RSNs
Duke at No. 8 Virginia, 4 p.m., ESPN
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest, 5 p.m., ACCN
Louisville at No. 19 Miami, 7 p.m., ACCN
Date | Month/day | Time/score | Opponent/event (current ranking) | Location | TV/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: No. 11 Iowa State | Portland | 5–1 |
27 | Sunday | L, 103–101, 4 OTs | Consolation: No. 3 Alabama | Portland | 5–2 |
ACC/Big Ten Challenge | |||||
30 | Wednesday | L, 77–65 | No. 18 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. 8 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 | No. 22 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 | Duke | Durham | 15–8, 7–5 ACC |
7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | Wake Forest | Winston-Salem | ESPN |
11 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | Clemson | Home | ESPN2 |
13 | Monday | 7 p.m. | No. 19 Miami | Home | ESPN |
19 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | No. 22 N.C. State | Raleigh | ESPN |
22 | Wednesday | 9 p.m. | Notre Dame | South Bend, Ind. | ESPN or ESPN2 |
25 | Saturday | 6 or 8 | No. 8 Virginia | Home | ESPN |
27 | Monday | 7 p.m. | Florida State | Tallahassee, Fla. | ESPN |
March | |||||
4 | Saturday | 6:30 | Duke | Home | ESPN |
ACC Tournament | |||||
7–11 | Tuesday-Saturday | TBA | TBA | Greensboro | TBA |
ACCN means the game airs on ACC Network.
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
Excellent analyses.
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