UNC’s ACC men’s schedule good for NET ranking, but makes winning title tougher

R.L. Bynum,

By R.L. Bynum

Since the days of the double round-robin ACC schedule are long over, there will always be inequities in the conference schedule.

This season, that’s good for No. 11 Carolina’s NET ranking, but winning the regular-season conference title will be more challenging than it will be for other teams. The Tar Heels’ league schedule will limit the number of Quad 4 league games, which can hurt a team’s NET rankings even with a win, giving UNC more Quad 1 and Quad 2 opportunities.

Carolina (8–3, 1–0 ACC) has played by far the toughest schedule in the ACC so far (No. 15, according to KenPom.com), followed by Clemson (33), Florida State (56) and Syracuse (63).

UNC, 26th in the NET rankings, has or will play six teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 7 Oklahoma (NET ranking of 20), No. 8 Tennessee (6), No. 9 Kentucky (27), No. 18 Clemson (12), No. 21 Duke (18; play two games) and No. 22 Virginia (35).

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

UNC and Clemson (10–1, 1–0) are the only teams picked to finish in the top five in the preseason ACC poll that will only play Louisville (5–7, 0–1; 262 NET ranking) and Notre Dame (5–7, 0–1; 240) — the two teams picked to finish at the bottom of the conference — once and also have seven games against the other four teams picked to finish in the top five.

Duke (8–3, 0–1) was the preseason pick to win the regular-season title, followed by Miami (9–2, 1–0, UNC, Virginia (9–2, 1–0) and Clemson. Of that group, only the Blue Devils and Cavaliers play just five games against the other four teams.

Of the teams picked to finish in the top five, UNC and Duke have the fewest games (8) against teams picked to finish in the bottom six — Syracuse (9–3, 0–1; NET ranking of 84), Florida State (6–5, 0–1; 122), Boston College (9–3, 0–1; 79), Georgia Tech (8–3, 1–0; 111), Louisville and Notre Dame.

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)

OpponentNET
ranking		Quad
designation		Outcome
Radford2364Win
Lehigh2674Win
UC Riverside2304Win
(N) Northern Iowa1093Win
(N) Villanova411Loss
(N) Arkansas1153Win
Tennessee71Win
Florida State963Win
(N) Connecticut21Loss
(N) Kentucky191Loss
(N) Oklahoma461Win
Charleston Southern3154Win
At Pittsburgh401Win
At Clemson351Win
At N.C. State631Win
Syracuse842Win
Louisville2174Win
At Boston College802Win
Wake Forest432Win
At Florida State962Win
At Georgia Tech1272Loss
Duke101Win
Clemson352Loss
At Miami1012Win
At Syracuse843Loss
Virginia Tech602Win
At Virginia541Win
Miami1013Win
N.C. State632Win
Notre Dame1243Win
At Duke101Win
Florida State962Win
Pittsburgh401Win
N.C. State632Loss
Quad designations are according to the current NET rankings. The only designation that matters is the designation on Selection Sunday.
DateMonth/dayScoreOpponent/event
(current ranks)		Record
October
27FridayW, 117–53vs. St. Augustine’sExhibition
November
6MondayW, 86–70vs. Radford1–0
12SundayW, 90–68vs. Lehigh2–0
17FridayW, 77–52vs. UC Riverside3–0
Battle 4 Atlantis
in the Bahamas
22WednesdayW, 91–69Northern Iowa4–0
23ThursdayL, 83–81, OTVillanova4–1
24FridayW, 87–72Arkansas5–1
ACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
29WednesdayW, 100–92vs. No. 6 Tennessee6–1
December
2SaturdayW, 78–70vs. Florida State7–1,
1–0 ACC
Jimmy V Classic
in New York
5TuesdayL, 87–67No. 1 Connecticut7–2
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
16SaturdayL, 87–83No. 12 Kentucky7–3
Jumpman Invitational
in Charlotte
20WednesdayW, 81–69Oklahoma8–3
—————————
29FridayW, 105–60vs. Charleston Southern9–3
January
2TuesdayW, 70–57at Pittsburgh10–3, 2–0 ACC
6SaturdayW, 65–55at Clemson11–3, 3–0 ACC
10WednesdayW, 67–54at N.C. State12–3, 4–0 ACC
13SaturdayW, 103–67vs. Syracuse13–3, 5–0 ACC
17WednesdayW, 86–70vs. Louisville14–3, 6–0 ACC
20SaturdayW, 76–66vs. Boston College15–3, 7–0 ACC
22MondayW, 85–64vs. Wake Forest16–3, 8–0 ACC
27SaturdayW, 75–68at Florida State17–3, 9–0 ACC
30TuesdayL, 74–73at Georgia Tech17–4, 9–1 ACC
February
3SaturdayW, 93–84vs. No. 13 Duke18–4, 10–1 ACC
6TuesdayL, 80–76vs. Clemson18–5, 10–2 ACC
10SaturdayW, 75–72at Miami19–5, 11–2 ACC
13TuesdayL, 86–79at Syracuse19–6, 11–3 ACC
17SaturdayW, 96–81vs. Virginia Tech20–6, 12–3 ACC
24SaturdayW, 54–44at Virginia21–6, 13–3 ACC
26MondayW, 75–71vs. Miami22–6, 14–3 ACC
March
2SaturdayW, 79–70vs. N.C. State23–6, 15–3 ACC
5TuesdayW, 84–51vs. Notre Dame24–6, 16–3 ACC
9SaturdayW, 84–79at No. 13 Duke25–6, 17–3 ACC
ACC tournament
Washington
14ThursdayW, 92–67Quarterfinals:
Florida State		26–6
15FridayW, 72–65Semifinals:
Pittsburgh		27–6
16SaturdayL, 84–76Final:
N.C. State		27–7
NCAA tournament
21ThursdayW, 90–62First round in Charlotte:
Wagner		28–7
23SaturdayW, 85–69Second round in Charlotte:
Michigan State		29–7
28ThursdayL, 89–87Sweet 16 in Los Angeles:
No. 19 Alabama 		29–8

Photo by Smith Hardy

Published by R.L. Bynum

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