By R.L. Bynum
The pattern of blowout wins helping teams in the NET rankings didn’t hold for No. 7 North Carolina on Tuesday night as the Tar Heels set their sights on trying to win the ACC regular-season title outright.
The Tar Heels (24–6, 16–3 ACC) remained at 10th in the NET rankings after their dominant 84–51 senior day victory over Notre Dame, which secured a share of the regular-season ACC title.
They can win the championship outright by winning at No. 9 Duke (24–6, 15–4) at 6:30 Saturday.
Even if the Blue Devils win to gain a share of the title, UNC would be the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament if Pittsburgh (20–10, 11–8) wins its home game against N.C. State (17–13, 9–10) and Wake Forest (18–12, 10–9) wins its home game against Clemson (21–9, 11–8), both on Saturday.
With wins by Pittsburgh and Wake Forest, the tiebreaker would come down to how UNC and Duke did against the Panthers. UNC would win that tiebreaker because it beat Pittsburgh, while the Blue Devils split two games with the Panthers.
However, should either Pittsburgh or Wake Forest lose Saturday, UNC would need to beat Duke to secure the No. 1 seed.
Carolina is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament on only three of 125 bracket projections listed on Bracket Matrix, where the average has the Tar Heels as the second-highest No. 2 seed behind Caleb Love’s No. 5 Arizona team (23–6).
Both Joe Lunardi’s projection on ESPN and Jerry Palm’s projection for CBS have UNC as the No. 2 seed at the East Regional in Boston, with first- and second-round games in Charlotte. Both have No. 2 UConn as the No. 1 seed in that regional.
After Georgia Tech’s 70–69 win at Wake Forest, the Yellow Jackets (14–16, 7–12) moved up nine spots to 124 and the Deacons fell 10 spots to 41.
UNC moved up in three metrics after the win over the Irish: From 9 to 8 in KenPom, 13 to 11 in T-Rank and 12 to 11 in BPI.
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 is 3–1; 8 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; 6 games left): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 3–0; 3 games left): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 6–0; no games left): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower
UNC’s NCAA résumé
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 18
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 26 (2 days)
Average opponent NET: 156
Average NET win: 167
Average NET loss: 14
NET strength of schedule: 89
KenPom: 22
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 28
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 21
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Tuesday games)
| Date | Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | Central Arkansas | 229 | 4 | Win |
| N7 | Kansas | 17 | 1 | Win |
| N11 | Radford | 289 | 4 | Win |
| N14 | N.C. Central | 351 | 4 | Win |
| N18 | Navy | 210 | 4 | Win |
| N25 | (N) St. Bonaventure | 100 | 2 | Win |
| N27 | (N) Michigan State | 14 | 1 | Loss |
| D2 | At Kentucky | 27 | 1 | Win |
| D7 | Georgetown | 127 | 3 | Win |
| D13 | USC Upstate | 217 | 4 | Win |
| D16 | ETSU | 130 | 3 | Win |
| D20 | (N) Ohio State | 42 | 1 | Win |
| D22 | East Carolina | 302 | 4 | Win |
| D30 | Florida State | 126 | 3 | Win |
| J3 | At SMU | 31 | 1 | |
| J10 | Wake Forest | 70 | 2 | |
| J14 | At Stanford | 93 | 2 | |
| J17 | At California | 56 | 1 | |
| J21 | Notre Dame | 68 | 2 | |
| J24 | At Virginia | 26 | 1 | |
| J31 | At Georgia Tech | 178 | 3 | |
| F2 | Syracuse | 85 | 3 | |
| F7 | Duke | 2 | 1 | |
| F10 | At Miami | 37 | 1 | |
| F14 | Pittsburgh | 116 | 3 | |
| F17 | At N.C. State | 32 | 1 | |
| F21 | At Syracuse | 85 | 2 | |
| F23 | Louisville | 11 | 1 | |
| F28 | Virginia Tech | 67 | 2 | |
| M3 | Clemson | 38 | 2 | |
| M7 | At Duke | 2 | 1 |
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 12 North Carolina | 1–0 | 13–1 | 18 |
| No. 6 Duke | 1–0 | 12–1 | 3 |
| Miami | 1–0 | 12–2 | 37 |
| Virginia Tech | 1–0 | 12–2 | 67 |
| No. 16 Louisville | 1–0 | 11–2 | 11 |
| Clemson | 1–0 | 11–3 | 38 |
| N.C. State | 1–0 | 10–4 | 32 |
| Notre Dame | 1–0 | 10–4 | 68 |
| Georgia Tech | 1–1 | 10–5 | 178 |
| SMU | 0–0 | 11–2 | 31 |
| Boston College | 0–0 | 7–6 | 183 |
| California | 0–1 | 12–2 | 56 |
| No. 21 Virginia | 0–1 | 11–2 | 26 |
| Stanford | 0–1 | 11–3 | 93 |
| Syracuse | 0–1 | 9–5 | 85 |
| Wake Forest | 0–1 | 9–5 | 70 |
| Florida State | 0–1 | 7–7 | 126 |
| Pittsburgh | 0–1 | 7–7 | 116 |
* — Through Tuesday games
Tuesday’s results
No. 12 North Carolina 79, Florida State 66
Miami 76, Pittsburgh 69
No. 16 Louisville 90, California 70
Notre Dame 47, Stanford 40
Wednesday’s games
N.C. State 70, Wake Forest 57
Clemson 64, Syracuse 61
Virginia Tech 95, No. 21 Virginia 85, 3 OTs
Duke 85, Georgia Tech 79
Friday’s games
No. 16 Louisville at Stanford, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Notre Dame at California, 11 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday’s games
No. 21 Virginia at N.C. State, 11 a.m., ESPN2
Virginia Tech at Wake Forest, noon, ACC Network
Clemson at Pittsburgh, noon, The CW
Boston College at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACC Network
No. 12 North Carolina at SMU, 2:15, The CW
No. 6 Duke at Florida State, 3:45, CBS
Tuesday, Jan. 6, games
No. 6 Duke at No. 16 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Syracuse at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACC Network
N.C. State at Boston College, 9 p.m., ACC Network
| 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 | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| 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. 21 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. 6 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. 16 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. 6 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
tarheeltribune.com 