By R.L. Bynum
NEW YORK — After fighting back to beat No. 18-ranked UCLA on Saturday, North Carolina was rewarded on Sunday by moving up 13 notches in the NET ranking to 33.
The Tar Heels (7–5, 1–0 ACC), who were at a season-low 46 before the weekend, have their highest NET ranking since they were 25th on Dec. 2 (before losing to Alabama two days later) after their second win in seven Quad 1 opportunities. The 76–74 victory in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden dropped No. 18-ranked UCLA (10–2) seven spots to 19th in the NET.
“I was just really proud of them,” Coach Hubert Davis said after his team got a big stop and a big rebound at the win to seal the victory. “For them to be able to get the rebound, for them to be able to get the stop and to step up in that situation and be able to win, UCLA is a really good offensive rebounding team, and we were able to out-rebound them. I thought that was a huge determining factor for us winning [Saturday].”
What looked like a daunting task to earn an NCAA tournament berth suddenly seems easier as UNC heads into Sunday’s Quad 4 home game at 8 p.m. against Campbell (5–7; NET ranking 316).
“I think it’s just our schedule from the start,” RJ Davis said. “We’ve been battle-tested all year. The first 12 games, it seems like we’ve been in March Madness games. That’s what it’s going to be like at the end of the year when we’re playing against tough teams all the way to the wire and being able to execute.”
There was good news on the number of remaining Quad 1 games left on the schedule. SMU (10–2, 2–0) jumped 16 spots to 28th after Saturday’s 103–77 win Saturday at Boston College (7–4, 0–1), making the Jan. 7 home game against the Mustangs the seventh ACC Quad 1 game on UNC’s schedule.
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 2–0; 4 games left): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 5–0; 1 games left): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower
After that final non-conference game, UNC plays the first of the remaining Quad 1 games to ring in the new year. The Tar Heels visit Louisville (7–5, 1–1) on Jan. 1. The Cardinals jumped 11 spots to 53rd in the NET after Saturday’s 90–76 win at Florida State.
After that, in addition to the SMU game, UNC has five other Quad 1 games: the home and home sets with Pittsburgh (10–2, 1–0; 9 NET ranking; Jan. 28 and Feb. 8), Duke (10–2, 2–0; 3 NET ranking; Feb. 1 and March 8) and the Feb. 10 game at Clemson (10–3, 2–0; 39 NET ranking).
The March 1 home game against Miami (4–8, 0–1) is now a Quad 4 after the Hurricanes’ 78–84 overtime home loss Saturday to Mount St. Mary’s dropped them 18 spots to 162.
UNC’s NCAA résumé
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 19
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 26 (2 days)
Average opponent NET: 148
Average NET win: 161
Average NET loss: 10
NET strength of schedule: 76
KenPom: 22
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 34
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 22
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Saturday’s games)
| Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Arkansas | 240 | 4 | Win |
| Kansas | 16 | 1 | Win |
| Radford | 298 | 4 | Win |
| N.C. Central | 350 | 4 | Win |
| Navy | 199 | 4 | Win |
| (N) St. Bonaventure | 96 | 2 | Win |
| (N) Michigan State | 10 | 1 | Loss |
| At Kentucky | 23 | 1 | Win |
| Georgetown | 137 | 3 | Win |
| USC Upstate | 209 | 4 | Win |
| ETSU | 151 | 3 | Win |
| (N) Ohio State | 48 | 1 | Win |
| East Carolina | 289 | 4 | |
| Florida State | 144 | 3 | |
| At SMU | 40 | 1 | |
| Wake Forest | 54 | 2 | |
| At Stanford | 80 | 2 | |
| At California | 49 | 1 | |
| Notre Dame | 61 | 2 | |
| At Virginia | 29 | 1 | |
| Georgia Tech | 185 | 3 | |
| Syracuse | 95 | 3 | |
| Duke | 4 | 1 | |
| At Miami | 35 | 1 | |
| Pittsburgh | 156 | 3 | |
| At N.C. State | 32 | 1 | |
| At Syracuse | 95 | 2 | |
| Louisville | 15 | 1 | |
| Virginia Tech | 62 | 2 | |
| Clemson | 36 | 2 | |
| At Duke | 4 | 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 | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 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 courtesy of UNC Athletics
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