By R.L. Bynum

After three consecutive ACC victories, North Carolina is up to 45th in the NET rankings and improving its NCAA tournament resume with Selection Sunday a week from Sunday.

The Tar Heels (19–11, 11–8 ACC) have done what they can control with wins over Notre Dame, Virginia and Florida State and have a chance for their second Quad 1 win Saturday at home against Duke, which is 22nd in the NET rankings.

That hasn’t been enough yet for some projections. ESPN and CBS still have UNC in the “first four out” list. Patrick Stevens of The Washington Post has Carolina in his “moving in” list, which is the third list of teams he projects to miss the field.

NCAA quadrant system

Quadrant 1 (UNC is 1–8 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 (6–3): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (6–0): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (6–0): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower

According to bracketmatrix.com, the predicted seed for UNC in the 15 projections with the Tar Heels in the field is No. 11. That would put UNC in the First Four. Interestingly, the Best Damn Bracket Period website projection would have the Tar Heels advancing to first- and second-round games in Greensboro.

Much of what they can’t control hasn’t been good except for Michigan (55th) and Boston College (158th). The Wolverines are five away from the win in Charlotte being classified as a Quad 1 and the win over the Eagles is now up to a Quad 3 after BC’s win Tuesday at Wake Forest.

Wake Forest has fallen to 86th, which moved UNC’s home win to a Quad 3 and the road loss to a Quad 2. The home win over Miami (34th) is now a Quad 2 by four spots.

If Virginia (29th) falls two more spots, the home win moves from a Quad 1 to a Quad 2. If Virginia Tech (71st) falls five more spots, that loss in Blacksburg goes from a Quad 1 to a Quad 2. The Hokies’ blowout of Louisville improved their NET ranking by three spots.

Quad schedule breakdown

Opponent	NET ranking	Quad	Result
UNCW	152	3	Win
College of Charleston	51	2	Win
Gardner-Webb	188	4	Win
James Madison	91	3	Win
Portland	168	3	Win
Iowa State	26	1	Loss
Alabama	2	1	Loss
At Indiana	18	1	Loss
At Virginia Tech	71	1	Loss
Georgia Tech	205	4	Win
The Citadel	325	4	Win
Ohio State	63	2	Win
Michigan	55	2	Win
At Pittsburgh	52	1	Loss
Wake Forest	86	3	Win
Notre Dame	190	4	Win
At Virginia	29	1	Loss
At Louisville	308	4	Win
Boston College	158	4	Win
N.C. State	42	2	Win
At Syracuse	112	2	Win
Pittsburgh	52	2	Loss
At Duke	22	1	Loss
At Wake Forest	86	2	Loss
Clemson	60	32	Win
Miami	34	2	Loss
At N.C. State	42	1	Loss
At Notre Dame	190	3	Win
Virginia	29	1	Win
At Florida State	218	4	Win
Duke	22	1

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