By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina’s men’s team hasn’t done much of late to help its NCAA resume, and factors that the Tar Heels can’t control are making it look even worse. There are now two wins that, on game day, were Quad 1 but are now Quad 2.

For the second consecutive season, UNC is on the bubble in mid-February.

ESPN’s bracket projection released Tuesday has the Tar Heels in the “last four in” group, along with Clemson. Joe Lunardi has the Tar Heels and the Tigers playing in the First Four. Even before Monday’s 80–72 home loss to Miami, Jerry Palm of CBS projected UNC for the First Four.

Few saw a scenario when UNC was the preseason No. 1 team that the Heels might go from the Final Four to the First Four, but it’s a real possibility. That’s assuming Carolina makes the field, which isn’t a safe bet at this point. Just like last season at this time, a trip to the NIT is possible.

“I’m stressed the heck out,” Armando Bacot said after the Miami loss Monday. “I want to get back to the NCAA tournament. That’s all of our goals. This never would have crossed my mind, but I’m 100% worried. We all know. Everybody in the building knows what’s at stake.”

NCAA quadrant system

Quadrant 1 (UNC is 0–9 in these games): 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 (6–1): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (5–0): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (5–0): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower

Carolina’s loss to Miami dropped the Heels six spots in the NET rankings to 46. But, in one of the only bits of good news, the Canes’ NET ranking moved up to 30 to barely be classified as a Quad 1 loss.

The 89–84 overtime win over Ohio State on Dec. 17 in New York was their only Quad 1 win for nearly two months (other than 12 hours or so after the 80–69 home win over N.C. State on Jan. 21 before it became Quad 2) but the Buckeyes’ struggles have made that a Quad 2. Ohio State (11–14) has lost six in a row and 11 of its last 12, falling to a NET ranking of 54,

All of that leaves UNC 0–9 in Quad 1 games, 6–1 in Quad 2 games (the loss is the 65–64 home setback Feb. 1 against Pittsburgh), 5–0 in Quad 3 games and 5–0 in Quad 4 games.

UNC quad breakdown

Opponent	NET ranking	Quad	Result
UNCW	134	3	Win
College of Charleston	55	2	Win
Gardner-Webb	159	3	Win
James Madison	88	3	Win
Portland	164	3	Win
Iowa State	16	1	Loss
Alabama	2	1	Loss
At Indiana	17	1	Loss
At Virginia Tech	57	1	Loss
Georgia Tech	216	4	Win
The Citadel	329	4	Win
Ohio State	54	2	Win
Michigan	70	2	Win
At Pittsburgh	51	1	Loss
Wake Forest	73	2	Win
Notre Dame	201	4	Win
At Virginia	13	1	Loss
At Louisville	331	4	Win
Boston College	191	4	Win
N.C. State	36	2	Win
At Syracuse	98	2	Win
Pittsburgh	51	2	Loss
At Duke	32	1	Loss
At Wake Forest	73	1	Loss
Clemson	77	3	Win
Miami	30	1	Loss
At N.C. State	36	1
At Notre Dame	201	3
Virginia	13	1
At Florida State	212	4
Duke	32	2

ACC standings

Team	League	Overall
No. 16 Miami	15–5	24–6
No. 13 Virginia	15–5	23–6
Duke	14–6	23–8
Clemson	14–6	22–9
No. 25 Pittsburgh	14–6	21–10
N.C. State	12–8	22–9
North Carolina	11–9	19–12
Syracuse	10–10	17–14
Wake Forest	10–10	18–13
Boston College	9–11	15–16
Virginia Tech	8–12	18–13
Florida State	7–13	9–22
Georgia Tech	6–14	14–17
Notre Dame	3–17	11–20
Louisville	2–18	4–27

Saturday’s games
Duke 62, North Carolina 57
No. 13 Virginia 75, Louisville 60
Georgia Tech 73, Boston College 65
Virginia Tech 82, Florida State 60
Syracuse 72, Wake Forest 63
No. 26 Miami 78, No. 25 Pittsburgh 76
Clemson 87, Notre Dame 64
End of regular season

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