Good and bad news for UNC’s NCAA resume after win over State

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.

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

OpponentNET rankingQuadrantOutcome
UNCW1293Win
College of Charleston412Win
Gardner-Webb1934Win
James Madison843Win
Portland1623Win
Iowa State101Loss
Alabama31Loss
At Indiana231Loss
At Virginia Tech551Loss
Georgia Tech1804Win
The Citadel3134Win
Ohio State241Win
Michigan762Win
At Pittsburgh651Loss
Wake Forest713Win
Notre Dame1944Win
At Virginia131Loss
At Louisville3344Win
Boston College2014Win
N.C. State362Win
At Syracuse1002
Pittsburgh652
At Duke291
At Wake Forest711
Clemson592
Miami442
At N.C. State361
At Notre Dame1943
Virginia131
At Florida State1873
Duke291

ACC standings

TeamLeagueOverall
No. 4 North Carolina17–325–6
No. 11 Duke15–524–7
Virginia13–722–9
Pittsburgh12–821–10
Clemson11–921–10
Syracuse11–920–11
Wake Forest11–919–12
Virginia Tech10–1018–13
Florida State10–1016–15
N.C. State9–1117–13
Boston College8–1217–14
Georgia Tech7–1214–17
Notre Dame7–1312–19
Miami6–1415–16
Louisville3–178–22

Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington


DateMonth/dayTime/scoreOpponent/event
(current ranking)
LocationRecord
October
28FridayW, 101–40Johnson C. Smith HomeExhibition
November
7MondayW, 69–56UNCWHome1–0
11FridayW, 102–86College of CharlestonHome2–0
15TuesdayW, 72–66Gardner-WebbHome3–0
20SundayW, 80–64James MadisonHome4–0
Phil Knight Invitational
24ThursdayW, 89–81First round: PortlandPortland5–0
25FridayL, 70–65Semifinals:
Iowa State
Portland5–1
27SundayL, 103–101,
4 OTs
Consolation:
No. 1 Alabama
Portland5–2
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
30WednesdayL, 77–65 No. 21 IndianaBloomington, Ind.5–3
December
4SundayL, 80–72 Virginia TechBlacksburg, Va.5–4,
0–1 ACC
10SaturdayW, 75–59Georgia TechHome6–4,
1–1 ACC
13TuesdayW, 100–67The CitadelHome7–4
CBS Sports Classic
17SaturdayW, 89–84, OTOhio StateNew York8–4
Jumpman Invitational
21WednesdayW, 80–76MichiganCharlotte9–4
30 Friday L, 76–74PittsburghPittsburgh9–5,
1–2 ACC
January
4WednesdayW, 88–79Wake ForestHome10–5,
2–2 ACC
7SaturdayW, 81–64Notre DameHome11–5,
3–2 ACC
10TuesdayL, 65–58No. 14 VirginiaCharlottesville11–6,
3–3 ACC
14SaturdayW, 80–59LouisvilleLouisville, Ky.12–6,
4–3 ACC
17TuesdayW, 72–64Boston CollegeHome13–6,
5–3 ACC
21SaturdayW, 80–69N.C. StateHome14–6,
6–3 ACC
24TuesdayW, 72–68SyracuseSyracuse, N.Y.15–6,
7–3 ACC
February
1WednesdayL, 65–64PittsburghHome15–7,
7–4 ACC
4SaturdayL, 63–57No. 12 DukeDurham15–8,
7–5 ACC
7TuesdayL, 92–85Wake ForestWinston-Salem15–9,
7–6 ACC
11SaturdayW, 91–71ClemsonHome 16–9,
8–6 ACC
13MondayL, 80–72No. 16 MiamiHome16–10,
8–7 ACC
19SundayL, 77–69N.C. StateRaleigh16–11,
8–8 ACC
22WednesdayW, 63–59Notre DameSouth Bend, Ind.17–11,
9–8 ACC
25SaturdayW, 71–63No. 14 VirginiaHome18–11,
10–8 ACC
27MondayW, 77–66Florida StateTallahassee, Fla.19–11,
11–8 ACC
March
4SaturdayL, 62–57No. 12 DukeHome19–12,
11–9 ACC
ACC tournament
8WednesdayW, 85–61Boston CollegeGreensboro20–12
9ThursdayL, 68–59No. 14 Virginia Greensboro20–13

Photo via @UNC_Basketball

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