By R.L. Bynum
On the strength of two consecutive Quad 1 road victories, No. 8 North Carolina moved to a season-high 9th in the NET rankings, moving up three spots after Saturday’s 65–55 victory over No. 16 Clemson.
That would project UNC, which won at Pittsburgh 70–57 on Tuesday, as a high No. 3 seed.
Carolina likely will move up to at least No. 7 in the AP Top 25 when the next poll is released on Monday after No. 7 Marquette lost on the road 78–75 to unranked Seton Hall.
The Tar Heels (11–3, 3–0 ACC) have four Quad 1 wins and get a chance for a fifth on Wednesday at 8 p.m. when they visit N.C. State (11–3, 3–0), which beat Virginia 76–70 on Saturday to move up to nine spots to 64 in the NET rankings.
NCAA quadrant system
Quadrant 1 (UNC is 2–1; 10 games left): 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 is 1–0; 5 games left): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 1–0; 3 games left): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 5–0; 2 games left): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower
The only teams with more Quad 1 wins are No. 1 Purdue (6) and No. 10 Arizona (5). Villanova also has four Quad 1 wins, one against UNC.
With Clemson’s second consecutive loss, the Tigers (11–3, 1–2) fell to 24th in the NET.
Carolina’s victory over Arkansas has moved from Quad 2 to Quad 3 after the Razorbacks lost 83–51 at home Saturday to No. 25 Auburn, dropping their NET ranking to 104.
UNC’s NCAA resume
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 20
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 26 (2 days)
Average opponent NET: 158
Average NET win: 175
Average NET loss: 10
NET strength of schedule: 13
KenPom: 27
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 39
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 24
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Saturday’s games)
| Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Arkansas | 247 | 4 | Win |
| Kansas | 16 | 1 | Win |
| Radford | 310 | 4 | Win |
| N.C. Central | 347 | 4 | Win |
| Navy | 205 | 4 | Win |
| (N) St. Bonaventure | 99 | 2 | Win |
| (N) Michigan State | 10 | 1 | Loss |
| At Kentucky | 27 | 1 | Win |
| Georgetown | 129 | 3 | Win |
| USC Upstate | 194 | 4 | Win |
| ETSU | 98 | 3 | |
| (N) Ohio State | 48 | 1 | |
| East Carolina | 321 | 4 | |
| Florida State | 134 | 3 | |
| At SMU | 40 | 1 | |
| Wake Forest | 56 | 2 | |
| At Stanford | 113 | 2 | |
| At California | 62 | 1 | |
| Notre Dame | 70 | 2 | |
| At Virginia | 21 | 1 | |
| Georgia Tech | 196 | 3 | |
| Syracuse | 92 | 3 | |
| Duke | 2 | 1 | |
| At Miami | 29 | 1 | |
| Pittsburgh | 169 | 4 | |
| At N.C. State | 37 | 1 | |
| At Syracuse | 92 | 2 | |
| Louisville | 11 | 1 | |
| Virginia Tech | 57 | 2 | |
| Clemson | 30 | 1 | |
| At Duke | 2 | 1 |
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 10 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 9 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | 8 p.m. | vs. East Tennessee State | ACCN |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | 3 p.m. | vs. Ohio State | CBS |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | 8 p.m. | vs. East Carolina | ACCN |
| 30 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Florida State | ESPN2 |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | 2:15 | at SMU | The CW |
| 10 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 14 | Wednesday | 9 p.m. | at Stanford | ACCN |
| 17 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at California | ACCN |
| 21 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ESPN2 |
| 24 | Saturday | 2 or 2:30 | at No. 23 Virginia | ESPN or ESPNU |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 11 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo by Smith Hardy
tarheeltribune.com 