By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina’s trip to Atlanta didn’t help the Tar Heels’ NET ranking, but they’ll have plenty of chances to improve it in the next couple of weeks.
No. 11 Carolina (7–3) has a NET ranking of 37, which is down five spots since Saturday’s 87–83 loss at the CBS Sports Classic to No. 9 Kentucky (NET ranking of 27), with all three losses in Quad 1 games.
The Tar Heels, who have a Quad 1 win over No. 9 Tennessee (8), can shoot themselves up the NET rankings in four of the next five games.
No. 7 Oklahoma (10) is the third consecutive Quad 1 game for UNC after losing to No. 5 UConn (5) and Kentucky (27).
NCAA quadrant system
Quadrant 1 (UNC was 9–3): 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 (UNC was 7–4): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC was 6–0): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC was 5–0): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower
The NCAA tournament committee uses the NET rankings as one of its metrics to determine who makes the field and how to seed teams. NET rankings will fluctuate throughout the season, and the only quad designation that matters is where your opponents stand on Selection Sunday, not where they ranked when the game was played.
After a Quad 4 home game Dec. 29 against Charleston Southern (346), the Tar Heels open the ACC season with Quad 1 road games against Pittsburgh (41) Jan. 2, No. 18 Clemson (15) Jan. 6 and N.C. State (69) Jan. 10.
As of the moment, Carolina has four consecutive Quad 1 games in February: home games against No. 21 Duke (24) on Feb. 3 and No. 18 Clemson (15) on Feb. 6 and road games against Miami (61) on Feb. 10 and Syracuse (75) on Feb. 13. If the Orange slips even one spot, that becomes a Quad 2 game.
After that stretch, the only games currently classified as Quad 1 are road games against No. 22 Virginia (23) on Feb. 24 and No. 21 Duke (24) on March 9.
UNC’s NCAA resume
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 8
Season-high: 6 (for five days in January)
Season-low: 38 (Dec. 9)
Average opponent NET: 91
Average NET win: 101
Average NET loss: 53
NET strength of schedule: 31
KenPom: 9
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 9
KPI: 5
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 9
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Saturday’s games)
Opponent | NET ranking | Quad designation | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|
Radford | 236 | 4 | Win |
Lehigh | 267 | 4 | Win |
UC Riverside | 230 | 4 | Win |
(N) Northern Iowa | 109 | 3 | Win |
(N) Villanova | 41 | 1 | Loss |
(N) Arkansas | 115 | 3 | Win |
Tennessee | 7 | 1 | Win |
Florida State | 96 | 3 | Win |
(N) Connecticut | 2 | 1 | Loss |
(N) Kentucky | 19 | 1 | Loss |
(N) Oklahoma | 46 | 1 | Win |
Charleston Southern | 315 | 4 | Win |
At Pittsburgh | 40 | 1 | Win |
At Clemson | 35 | 1 | Win |
At N.C. State | 63 | 1 | Win |
Syracuse | 84 | 2 | Win |
Louisville | 217 | 4 | Win |
At Boston College | 80 | 2 | Win |
Wake Forest | 43 | 2 | Win |
At Florida State | 96 | 2 | Win |
At Georgia Tech | 127 | 2 | Loss |
Duke | 10 | 1 | Win |
Clemson | 35 | 2 | Loss |
At Miami | 101 | 2 | Win |
At Syracuse | 84 | 3 | Loss |
Virginia Tech | 60 | 2 | Win |
At Virginia | 54 | 1 | Win |
Miami | 101 | 3 | Win |
N.C. State | 63 | 2 | Win |
Notre Dame | 124 | 3 | Win |
At Duke | 10 | 1 | Win |
Florida State | 96 | 2 | Win |
Pittsburgh | 40 | 1 | Win |
N.C. State | 63 | 2 | Loss |
Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|
October | ||||
27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
November | ||||
6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
December | ||||
2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
————————— | ||||
29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
January | ||||
2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
February | ||||
3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
March | ||||
2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
ACC tournament Washington | ||||
14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
NCAA tournament | ||||
21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |