UNC slips in NET after Quad 4 win, but 2 of next 3 games are Quad 1

R.L. Bynum

By R.L. Bynum

After ending 2024 with Quad 4 win that only hurt North Carolina in the NET rankings, the Tar Heels look ahead to two Quad 1 games early in 2025 that could help bolster their NCAA tournament resume.

During UNC’s eight-day break since the big 76–74 victory on Dec. 21 in New York over UCLA, its NET ranking rose to 32. But Sunday’s 97–81 home win over Campbell, which jumped the Camels’ NET ranking from 316 to 304, dropped the Tar Heels six spots to 38th.

Carolina (8–5, 1–0 ACC) gets the chance to change that, though, with two Quad 1 opportunities in the next three games.

The Tar Heels visit Louisville (8–5, 1–1; NET ranking of 60) at 6 p.m. Wednesday and host SMU (11–2, 2–0; NET ranking of 30) at 9 p.m. on Jan. 7 in Quad 1 games, with Saturday’s noon visit to Notre Dame (7–5, 1–0; NET ranking of 92) for a Quad 2 game in between.

The NCAA tournament committee, chaired this season by UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham, 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 4–3; 5 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 1–1; 3 games left): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 6–0; 2 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

All five UNC losses have come in Quad 1 games, with Quad 1 victories over Dayton (92–90 on Nov. 25 in Maui) and UCLA. That win over the Bruins looked even better after UCLA (11–2) knocked off Gonzaga on Saturday 65–62 to move up to 16th in the NET rankings and jump seven spots in the AP Top 25 to No. 15.

After the Louisville and SMU games, UNC’s other Quad 1 opportunities are the home-and-homes with Pittsburgh (10–2, 1–0; NET of 11; games Jan. 28 and Feb. 8) and Duke (10–2, 2–0; NET of 3; games Feb. 1 and March 3) and the Feb. 10 game at Clemson (10–3, 2–0; NET of 36).

It’s too bad for UNC that its 84–76 win on Oct. 15 at No. 21 Memphis was only an exhibition game. If it had counted, that also would have been a Quad 1 victory because the Tigers (10–3) are 40th in the NET rankings.

There was good news: the 68–65 home victory on Dec. 7 over Georgia Tech (6–7, 0–2) moved from Quad 4 to Quad 3, thanks to the Jackets’ NET ranking jumping to 159.

On the downside, the Jan. 18 home game against Stanford (9–3, 1–0) moved from Quad 2 to Quad 3 after the Cardinal’s NET ranking slipped to 84.

The Tar Heel Tribune Facebook group moved to a new location. Follow the page at this link so that you don’t miss any UNC sports coverage.

UNC’s NCAA résumé

(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 25
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 30 (4 days)
Average opponent NET: 122
Average NET win: 141
Average NET loss: 44
NET strength of schedule: 50
KenPom: 29
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 32
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 29

UNC quad schedule breakdown

(Through Saturday games)

DateOpponentNET
ranking		Current quad
designation		Outcome
N3Central Arkansas1994Win
N7Kansas141Win
N11Radford2434Win
N14N.C. Central3404Win
N18Navy1704Win
N25(N) St. Bonaventure1463Win
N27(N) Michigan State111Loss
D2At Kentucky281Win
D7Georgetown953Win
D13USC Upstate2864Win
D16ETSU1293Win
D20(N) Ohio State401Win
D22East Carolina2894Win
D30Florida State1023Win
J3At SMU341Loss
J10Wake Forest702Win
J14At Stanford782Loss
J17At California511Loss
J21Notre Dame853Win
J24At Virginia181Win
J31At Georgia Tech1433Win
F2Syracuse732
F7Duke21
F10At Miami391
F14Pittsburgh1143
F17At N.C. State261
F21At Syracuse732
F23Louisville171
F28Virginia Tech562
M3Clemson311
M7At Duke21
Quad designations are according to the current NET rankings. The only designation that matters is the designation on Selection Sunday.
TeamLeagueOverallNET*
No. 4 Duke10–021–13
No. 20 Clemson8–118–431
No. 18 Virginia8–219–317
N.C. State8–217–625
No. 14 North Carolina6–318–426
Miami6–317–539
No. 24 Louisville6–416–618
Virginia Tech5–516–756
California5–517–650
SMU4–515–734
Syracuse4–613–1072
Stanford3–614–877
Florida State3–610–12100
Wake Forest2–711–1172
Boston College2–79–13148
Pittsburgh2–79–13113
Georgia Tech2–811–12143
Notre Dame2–811–1285

* — Through Tuesday games
Monday’s result
No. 14 North Carolina 87, Syracuse 77
Tuesday’s results
No. 4 Duke 67, Boston College 49
No. 18 Virginia 67, Pittsburgh 47
N.C. State 84, SMU 83
Wednesday’s games
No. 24 Louisville 76, Notre Dame 65
California 90, Georgia Tech 85
No. 20 Clemson at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
Virginia Tech at N.C. State, noon, The CW
Syracuse at No. 18 Virginia, noon, ESPN
No. 24 Louisville at Wake Forest, noon, ACC Network
Miami at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., The CW
Florida State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., The CW
No. 4 Duke at No. 14 North Carolina, 6:30, ESPN
No. 20 Clemson at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Stanford, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Monday’s game
N.C. State at No. 24 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, Feb. 10, games
No. 14 North Carolina at Miami, 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 Virginia at Florida State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Notre Dame at SMU, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 4 Duke at Pittsburgh, 9 p.m., ESPN

DateMonth/dayTimeOpponent/event
(current ranks)		TV/
record
October
24FridayL, 78–76vs. No. 16 BYU in SLCExhib.
29WednesdayW, 95–53vs. Winston-Salem St.Exhib.
November
3MondayW, 94–54vs. Central Arkansas1–0
7FridayW, 87–74vs. No. 11 Kansas2–0
11TuesdayW, 89–74vs. Radford3–0
14FridayW, 97–53vs. N.C. Central4–0
18TuesdayW, 73–61vs. Navy5–0
Fort Myers Tip-Off
25TuesdayW, 85–70vs. St. Bonaventure6–0
27ThursdayL, 74–58vs. No. 10 Michigan State6–1
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
2TuesdayW, 67–64at Kentucky7–1
—————————
7SundayW, 81–61vs. Georgetown8–1
13SaturdayW, 80–62vs. USC Upstate9–1
16TuesdayW, 77–58vs. ETSU10–1
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
20SaturdayW, 71–70vs. Ohio State11–1
—————————
22MondayW, 99–51vs. East Carolina12–1
30TuesdayW, 79–66vs. Florida State13–1,
1–0 ACC
January
3SaturdayL, 97–83at SMU13–2, 1–1
10SaturdayW, 87–84vs. Wake Forest14–2, 2–1
14WednesdayL, 95–90at Stanford14–3, 2–2
17SaturdayL, 84–78at California14–4, 2–3
21WednesdayW, 91–69vs. Notre Dame15–4, 3–3
24SaturdayW, 85–80at No. 18 Virginia16–4, 4–3
31SaturdayW, 91–75at Georgia Tech17–4, 5–3
February
2MondayW, 87–77vs. Syracuse18–4, 6–3
7Saturday6:30vs. No. 4 DukeESPN
10Tuesday7 p.m.at MiamiESPN or
ESPN2
14Saturday2 p.m.vs. PittsburghESPN
17Tuesday7 p.m.at N.C. StateESPN or
ESPN2
21Saturday1 p.m.at SyracuseABC
23Monday7 p.m.vs. No. 24 LouisvilleESPN
28Saturday6:30 or 8:30vs. Virginia TechESPN or
ESPN2
March
3Tuesday7 p.m.vs. No. 20 ClemsonESPN or
ESPN2
7Saturday6:30at No. 4 DukeESPN
10–14Tues.-Sat.ACC
tournament		Spectrum Center,
Charlotte

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics

Unknown's avatar

Published by R.L. Bynum

Leave a Reply