By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Quad 2 victories are never going to give a team’s NCAA tournament resume a huge boost, but they are still helpful.
That was the case with Carolina’s 82–67 Quad 2 home victory Tuesday over SMU, which bumped up the Tar Heels (10–6, 3–1 ACC) three spots to 39th in the NET, which is five higher than they were the day after Saturday’s 74–73 Quad 2 victory at Notre Dame (7–7, 1–2; 100 in NET).
Coach Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels got a potential boost with the addition of a sixth Quad 1 game on its remaining schedule.
The average of 53 NCAA tournament projections is for UNC to be a No. 11 seed, with only seven not including the Tar Heels in the field and no projection having the Tar Heels higher than a No. 9 seed. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, in his projection released before the SMU win, had UNC in the “last four byes” category and a No. 10 seed in the South Regional. Jerry Palm of CBS, in his latest projection on Sunday, had the Tar Heels as a No. 9 seed in the Midwest Regional.
Fifth-year guard RJ Davis, who scored a game-high 26 points against the Mustangs, said the Tar Heels’ defense put them in position to get that victory.
“We did a good job of just sharing the wealth [Tuesday], moving the ball from good to great shots, and I think I’m really proud of our defense,” he said. “We [were] communicating, talking on switches, we had a low man today, we had gaps. So, overall, our communication on the defensive end was great, and that allowed us to go big in the first and second halves. What stood out for me tonight was our defense, and we’re gonna need more of that moving forward.”
The Tar Heels get one of two remaining Quad 2 games at 4 p.m. Saturday at N.C. State (8–6, 1–2; 114 in the NET) before two of their remaining six Quad 3 games, both at home: Jan. 15 against California (7–7, 0–3; 120) and Jan. 18 against Stanford (9–5, 1–2; 86).
The NCAA tournament committee, which UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham chairs, 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 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
UNC’s schedule now includes an additional Quad 1 game, but it should definitely be penciled in.
Florida State’s 90–74 home Tuesday win over Syracuse (7–8, 1–3; 161) makes UNC’s Feb. 24 game in Tallahassee, Fla., Quad 1 because the Seminoles’ NET ranking is now 74. That could easily change if the NET ranking for FSU (10–4, 1–2) dips below 75.
As it stands, that game is one of six Quad 1 games on UNC’s remaining schedule, along with games Jan 28 and Feb. 8 against Pittsburgh (12–3, 3–1; 20 in NET), games Feb. 1 and March 8 against No. 4 Duke (13–2, 5–0; 2) and the Feb. 10 game at Clemson (12–4, 4–1; 41).
The Mustangs (11–4, 3–1) dropped five spots to 48th in the NET with the loss to Carolina. The Panthers slipped five spots after losing Tuesday at Duke 76–47.
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
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 |
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall | NET |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 Duke | 19–1 | 28–3 | 1 |
| No. 14 Louisville | 18–2 | 25–6 | 25 |
| No. 11 Clemson | 18–2 | 26–5 | 22 |
| North Carolina | 13–7 | 20–12 | 38 |
| SMU | 13–7 | 22–9 | 45 |
| Wake Forest | 13–7 | 21–10 | 72 |
| Stanford | 11–9 | 19–12 | 82 |
| Georgia Tech | 10–10 | 16–15 | 108 |
| Florida State | 8–12 | 17–14 | 89 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–12 | 17–14 | 60 |
| Virginia | 8–12 | 15–16 | 102 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–12 | 13–18 | 164 |
| Notre Dame | 8–12 | 14–17 | 101 |
| Syracuse | 7–13 | 13–18 | 141 |
| California | 6–14 | 13–18 | 125 |
| N.C. State | 5–15 | 12–19 | 128 |
| Boston College | 4–16 | 12–19 | 198 |
| Miami | 3–17 | 7–24 | 227 |
Saturday’s results
No. 2 Duke 82, North Carolina 69
Miami 72, N.C. State 70
No. 14 Louisville 68, Stanford 48
Wake Forest 69, Georgia Tech 43
Florida State 76, SMU 69
Notre Dame 112, California 110, 4 OTs
Clemson 65, Virginia Tech 47
Pittsburgh 93, Boston College 67
Syracuse 84, Virginia 70
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday’s first round (ACCN)
No. 12 Notre Dame (14–17) vs. No. 13 Pittsburgh (17–14), 2 p.m.
No. 10 Virginia Tech (13–18) vs. No. 15 California (13–18), 4:30
No. 11 Florida State (17–14) vs. No. 14 Syracuse (13–18), 7 p.m.
Wednesday’s second round
No. 8 Georgia Tech (16–15) vs. No. 9 Virginia (15–16), noon, ESPN
Notre Dame-Pitt winner vs. No. 5 North Carolina (20–12), 2:30, ESPN
VT-Cal winner vs. No. 7 Stanford (19–12), 7 p.m., ESPN2/U
FSU-Syracuse winner vs. No. 6 SMU (22–9), 9:30, ESPN2/U
Thursday’s quarterfinals (ESPN/2)
Ga. Tech-Virginia winner vs. No. 1 Duke (28–3), noon
Notre Dame, Pitt or UNC vs. No. 4 Wake Forest (21–10), 2:30
VT, Cal or Stanford vs. No. 2 Louisville (25–6), 7 p.m.
FSU, Syracuse or SMU vs. No. 3 Clemson (26–5), 9:30
Friday’s semifinals (ESPN/2)
Thursday afternoon winners, 7 p.m.
Thursday evening winners, 9:30
Saturday’s championship
Semifinal winners, 8:30, ESPN
UNC nonconference schedule
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | |||
| 24 | Friday | TBA | vs. BYU in Salt Lake City (exhibition) |
| 29 | Wednesday | TBA | vs. Winston-Salem State (exhibition) |
| November | |||
| 3 | Monday | TBA | vs. Central Arkansas |
| 7 | Friday | TBA | vs. Kansas |
| 11 | Tuesday | TBA | vs. Radford |
| 14 | Friday | TBA | vs. N.C. Central |
| 18 | Tuesday | TBA | vs. Navy |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | |||
| 25 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. St. Bonaventure |
| 27 | Thursday | 4:30 p.m. | vs. Michigan State |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||
| 2 | Friday | TBA | at Kentucky |
| ————————— | |||
| 7 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Georgetown |
| 13 | Saturday | TBA | vs. USC Upstate |
| 16 | Tuesday | TBA | vs. East Tennessee State |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | |||
| 20 | Saturday | TBA | vs. Ohio State |
| ————————— | |||
| 22 | Monday | TBA | vs. East Carolina |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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