By R.L. Bynum

Playing Quad 4 teams is rarely an NCAA tournament resume-builder unless you blow that team out, and 16 points wasn’t enough to help No. 4 North Carolina.

After the No. 4 Tar Heels’ 86–70 victory Wednesday over Louisville for their fifth Quad 4 victory, the league-leading Tar Heels (14–3, 6–0 ACC) slipped one spot in the NET to eighth and they have lost a Quad 1 win.

Following Thursday’s games, UNC fell another spot to nine.

UNC’s 70–57 victory on Jan. 2 at Pittsburgh has shifted from a Quad 1 to a Quad 2 because the Panthers’ NET ranking is down to 82, and had to be 75 or higher to stay a Quad 1. Pitt (10–7, 1–5 ACC) has lost four of its last five games after Tuesday’s 69–58 loss to a Syracuse team that UNC beat by 36 points.

There was good news, though, with Northern Iowa’s three-game win streak. The Panthers (10–8) are up to 100 in the NET rankings, which barely moves UNC’s 91–69 Nov. 22 win in the Bahamas from a Quad 3 win to a Quad 2 victory. If the Panthers fall one spot, it returns to a Quad 3 win.

Bracket Matrix, which averages dozens of NCAA tournament bracket projections, has UNC as the top No. 2 seed.

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.

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NCAA quadrant system

Quadrant 1 (UNC is 1–12): 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 8–0): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 7–1): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 6–0): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower

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Saturday’s 2:15 visit to Boston College (11–6, 2–4 ACC) will provide an easier chance to help the NET ranking for UNC (14–3, 6–0) since that will be the first of three consecutive Quad 2 games. Carolina hosts Wake Forest (12–5, 4–2) at 7 p.m. Monday, then visits Florida State (11–6, 5–1) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27.

No. 2 Purdue has the most Quad 1 wins with six. No. 12 Arizona is next with five. UNC, No. 3 Kansas, No. 5 Houston, and No. 11 Wisconsin have four.

There was other bad news from the updated NET rankings.

With Clemson falling to 38 in the NET, the Tar Heels’ Feb. 6 home game against the Tigers is now classified as a Quad 2, though the 65–55 win at Clemson on Jan. 6 is still comfortably a Quad 1 win.

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UNC’s NCAA resume

(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 36
Highest NET: 25 on Dec. 2
Lowest NET: 51 on Feb. 10
Average opponent NET: 93
Average NET win: 135
Average NET loss: 23
NET strength of schedule: 42
KenPom: 33
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 25
KPI: 54
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 36

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UNC quad schedule breakdown

(Through Saturday’s games)

Opponent	NET ranking	Quad designation	Outcome
Elon	184	4	Win
At Kansas	20	1	Loss
American	226	4	Win
At Hawai’i	223	3	Win
(N) Dayton	67	2	Win
(N) Auburn	2	1	Loss
(N) Michigan State	11	1	Loss
Alabama	6	1	Loss
Georgia Tech	109	3	Win
La Salle	214	4	Win
(N) Florida	4	1	Loss
(N) UCLA	27	1	Win
Campbell	222	4	Win
At Louisville	23	1	Loss
At Notre Dame	103	3	Win
SMU	46	2	Win
At N.C. State	132	2	Win
California	125	3	Win
Stanford	81	3	Loss
At Wake Forest	69	1	Loss
Boston College	202	4	Win
At Pittsburgh	61	1	Loss
At Duke	1	1	Loss
Pittsburgh	61	2	Win
At Clemson	22	1	Loss
At Syracuse	133	2	Win
N.C. State	132	3	Win
Virginia	110	3	Win
At Florida State	90	2	Win
Miami	225	4	Win
At Virginia Tech	167	3	Win
Duke	1	1	Loss
(N) Notre Dame	103	3	Win
(N) Wake Forest	69	2	Win
(N) Duke	1	1	Loss

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Date	Month/day	Scores	Opponent/event (current ranks)	Record
	October
15	Tuesday	W, 84–76	at No. 16 Memphis	Exhibition
27	Sunday	W, 127–63	vs. Johnson C. Smith	Exhibition
	November
4	Monday	W, 90–76	vs. Elon	1–0
8	Friday	L, 92–89	at Kansas	1–1
15	Friday	W, 107–55	vs. American	2–1
22	Friday	W, 85–69	at Hawai’i	3–1
			Maui Invitational
25	Monday	W, 92–90	Dayton	4–1
26	Tuesday	L, 85–72	No. 3 Auburn	4–2
27	Wednesday	L, 94–91, OT	No. 7 Michigan State	4–3
	December		ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
4	Wednesday	L, 94–79	vs. No. 5 Alabama	4–4
			—————————
7	Saturday	W, 68–65	vs. Georgia Tech	5–4, 1–0 ACC
14	Saturday	W, 93–67	vs. LaSalle	6–4
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
17	Tuesday	L, 90–84	No. 4 Florida	6–5
			CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden
21	Saturday	W, 76–74	UCLA	7–5
			—————————
29	Sunday	W, 97–81	vs. Campbell	8–5
	January
1	Wednesday	L, 83–70	at No. 13 Louisville	8–6, 1–1
4	Saturday	W, 74–73	at Notre Dame	9–6, 2–1
7	Tuesday	W, 82–67	vs. SMU	10–6, 3–1
11	Saturday	W, 63–61	at N.C. State	11–6, 4–1
15	Wednesday	W, 79–53	vs. California	12–6, 5–1
18	Saturday	L, 72–71	vs. Stanford	12–7, 5–2
21	Tuesday	L, 67–66	at Wake Forest	12–8, 5–3
25	Saturday	W, 102–96, OT	vs. Boston College	13–8, 6–3
28	Tuesday	L, 73–65	at Pittsburgh	13–9, 6–4
	February
1	Saturday	L, 87–70	at No. 1 Duke	13–10, 6–5
8	Saturday	W, 67–66	vs. Pittsburgh	14–10, 7–5
10	Monday	L, 85–65	at No. 10 Clemson	14–11, 7–6
15	Saturday	W, 88–82	at Syracuse	15–11, 8–6
19	Wednesday	W, 97–73	vs. N.C. State	16–11, 9–6
22	Saturday	W, 81–66	vs. Virginia	17–11, 10–6
24	Monday	W, 96–85	at Florida State	18–11, 11–6
	March
1	Saturday	W, 92–73	vs. Miami	19–11, 12–6
4	Tuesday	W, 91–59	at Virginia Tech	20–11, 13–6
8	Saturday	L, 82–69	vs. No. 1 Duke	20–12, 13–7
			ACC tournament Spectrum Center, Charlotte
12	Wednesday	W, 76–56	2nd-round: vs. Notre Dame	21–12
13	Thursday	W, 68–59	Quarterfinal: vs. Wake Forest	22–12
14	Friday	L, 72–71	Semifinal: vs. No. 1 Duke	22–13
			NCAA tournament
18	Tuesday	W, 95–68	First Four in Dayton, Ohio: vs. San Diego State	23–13
			South Regional First round in Milwaukee
21	Friday	L, 71–64	vs. Ole Miss	23–14