By R.L. Bynum
Racking up Quad 1 victories is the sure path to a high NCAA tournament seed, and No. 8 North Carolina’s victory over Pittsburgh continued pushing the Tar Heels in that direction.
The 70–57 win at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night was UNC’s third Quad 1 victory, shooting the Tar Heels (10–3, 2–0 ACC) up seven spots to a season-high 13th in the men’s basketball NET rankings, then went up to 12 on Wednesday. Only No. 3 Houston (No. 1 in the NET), No. 1 Purdue (3) and No. 10 Arizona (4) have more Quad 1 wins, with four each.
No. 16 Clemson (NET ranking of 16), No. 7 Marquette (10), No. 2 Kansas (11), No. 21 Wisconsin (19), Texas A&M (25), Dayton (23) and Villanova (30) are the only other teams with at least three Quad 1 victories.
The Panthers fell eight NET ranking spots to 49 with the loss, then to 52 on Wednesday but it’s comfortably a Quad 1 win since they easily top the needed 75 threshold.
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.
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
At 25 in the NET six days ago, Carolina should project to be a high No. 4 seed at this point, with the chance to rise to a No. 3 projection with another Quad 1 road victory Saturday against Clemson, potentially higher if the Tar Heels can couple that with a Quad 1 victory at N.C. State (71 in the NET) on Jan. 10.
UNC is one of five teams — along with Arizona, Marquette, Wisconsin and Texas A&M — that have played an NCAA-high six Quad 1 games, and the Tar Heels would have several more on the schedule barring a big shakeup.
Under the current NET rankings, Carolina has five more Quad 1 games left on the schedule after the games at Clemson and N.C. State: Feb. 6 in Chapel Hill against Clemson, two against Duke (Feb. 3 in Chapel Hill and March 9 in Durham), the Feb. 10 game at Miami and the Feb. 24 game at Virginia.
Wake Forest’s recent surge, with eight consecutive wins, including victories Saturday at home over Virginia Tech (86–63) and Tuesday at Boston College (83–78), have vaulted the Demon Deacons to 55 in the NET. That has flipped UNC’s Jan. 22 home game against Wake Forest from a Quad 3 to a Quad 2 game.
After Radford’s 85–71 home loss Wednesday to High Point, it fell 13 spots to 170, moving that from a Quad 3 win to a Quad 4 win.
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 |
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 North Carolina | 17–3 | 25–6 |
| No. 11 Duke | 15–5 | 24–7 |
| Virginia | 13–7 | 22–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–8 | 21–10 |
| Clemson | 11–9 | 21–10 |
| Syracuse | 11–9 | 20–11 |
| Wake Forest | 11–9 | 19–12 |
| Virginia Tech | 10–10 | 18–13 |
| Florida State | 10–10 | 16–15 |
| N.C. State | 9–11 | 17–13 |
| Boston College | 8–12 | 17–14 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–12 | 14–17 |
| Notre Dame | 7–13 | 12–19 |
| Miami | 6–14 | 15–16 |
| Louisville | 3–17 | 8–22 |
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
| 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 |
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