By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina may have kept its hopes alive of making the NCAA tournament with a Quad 2 home 67–66 victory Saturday over Pittsburgh, but the win did little to bolster the team’s resume, and there was bad NET ranking news.
The Tar Heels (14–10, 7–5 ACC), who fell to 44th in the NET ranking after the loss at Duke a week earlier, slipped to 45th even though they didn’t play last week and stayed at 45th after the victory.
A win at Clemson at 7 p.m. Monday (ESPN) would undoubtedly boost UNC’s NET ranking in one of the few remaining chances to do that.
UNC’s 6–4 record in one-possession games won’t help its NCAA chances, but it does help Carolina’s confidence.
“The ACC is a tough league to play in,” freshman Drake Powell said. “I feel like any team can beat any other team on any night out.”
The Tigers (19–5, 11–2) moved up three spots in the NET to 30th after a huge 77–71 home upset Saturday of No. 2 Duke (20–3, 12–1), which stayed at 2nd in the NET. Carolina’s other remaining Quad 1 game is the March 8 game in the Smith Center against the Blue Devils.
Coach Hubert Davis says he and the team are doing what they can control and said the win over Pitt boosted their morale.
“It has been a rough new year,” he said. “It’s been a rough 2025. We have lost a lot of games recently. We knew we were trying to come out on top in all of these games, and we are trying to do what we need to do. To get this game was huge. And we really need this. It was a huge confidence boost.”
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 2–1; 10 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; 5 games left): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 1–0; 3 games left): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 5–0; 2 games left): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower
With most projections not reflecting the win over the Panthers, UNC is included in only 8.1% (8 of 98) of the brackets on Bracket Matrix.
Two prominent Friday projections showed UNC has plenty of work to do. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had the Tar Heels as the second team in his “Next four out” list, meaning he ranked UNC as the sixth-best team not in his field. Jerry Palm’s projection on CBS only has a “First four out” list, and the Tar Heels aren’t on it.
Stanford’s NET ranking fell to 78th last week, which moved Carolina’s 72–71 home loss on Jan. 18 to the Cardinal (16–8, 8–5) from Quad 2 back to Quad 3. Stanford’s 74–73 home win Saturday over N.C. State didn’t change its NET ranking.
Saturday’s game at Syracuse (11–13, 5–8) was a Quad 2 game for a few days after the Orange’s win at California last weekend. But the Orange fell 11 spots after an 83–54 home loss Wednesday to Duke. Syracuse is at 146 following its 95–86 triple-overtime home win Saturday over Boston College, making Carolina’s game next weekend Quad 3.
After the Syracuse game, UNC’s chances of improving its resume don’t get any better with Quad 3 home games against N.C. State (9–14, 2–10; 120) on Feb. 19 and Virginia (12–12, 5–8; 105) on Feb. 22.
UNC’s NCAA resume
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 20
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 26 (2 days)
Average opponent NET: 158
Average NET win: 175
Average NET loss: 10
NET strength of schedule: 13
KenPom: 27
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 39
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 24
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Saturday’s games)
| Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Arkansas | 247 | 4 | Win |
| Kansas | 16 | 1 | Win |
| Radford | 310 | 4 | Win |
| N.C. Central | 347 | 4 | Win |
| Navy | 205 | 4 | Win |
| (N) St. Bonaventure | 99 | 2 | Win |
| (N) Michigan State | 10 | 1 | Loss |
| At Kentucky | 27 | 1 | Win |
| Georgetown | 129 | 3 | Win |
| USC Upstate | 194 | 4 | Win |
| ETSU | 98 | 3 | |
| (N) Ohio State | 48 | 1 | |
| East Carolina | 321 | 4 | |
| Florida State | 134 | 3 | |
| At SMU | 40 | 1 | |
| Wake Forest | 56 | 2 | |
| At Stanford | 113 | 2 | |
| At California | 62 | 1 | |
| Notre Dame | 70 | 2 | |
| At Virginia | 21 | 1 | |
| Georgia Tech | 196 | 3 | |
| Syracuse | 92 | 3 | |
| Duke | 2 | 1 | |
| At Miami | 29 | 1 | |
| Pittsburgh | 169 | 4 | |
| At N.C. State | 37 | 1 | |
| At Syracuse | 92 | 2 | |
| Louisville | 11 | 1 | |
| Virginia Tech | 57 | 2 | |
| Clemson | 30 | 1 | |
| At Duke | 2 | 1 |
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Duke | 0–0 | 10–0 | 2 |
| California | 0–0 | 10–1 | 60 |
| No. 11 Louisville | 0–0 | 9–1 | 11 |
| No. 12 North Carolina | 0–0 | 9–1 | 20 |
| No. 23 Virginia | 0–0 | 9–1 | 21 |
| Virginia Tech | 0–0 | 10–2 | 59 |
| Miami | 0–0 | 9–2 | 31 |
| SMU | 0–0 | 9–2 | 41 |
| Stanford | 0–0 | 8–2 | 109 |
| Notre Dame | 0–0 | 9–3 | 67 |
| Clemson | 0–0 | 8–3 | 30 |
| Wake Forest | 0–0 | 8–3 | 48 |
| N.C. State | 0–0 | 7–4 | 36 |
| Georgia Tech | 0–0 | 6–4 | 204 |
| Syracuse | 0–0 | 6–4 | 92 |
| Florida State | 0–0 | 5–5 | 132 |
| Boston College | 0–0 | 5–6 | 181 |
| Pittsburgh | 0–0 | 5–6 | 167 |
* — Through Monday games
Saturday’s results
No. 12 North Carolina 80, USC Upstate 62
Miami 104, Louisiana-Monroe 79
Massachusetts 103, Florida State 95
Notre Dame 82, Evansville 58
Clemson 70, Mercer 63
No. 11 Louisville 99, Memphis 73
Hofstra 70, Syracuse 69
Villanova 79, Pittsburgh 61
California 79, Northwestern State 70
No. 19 Kansas 77, N.C. State 76, OT
Stanford 86, San Jose State 82
LSU 89, SMU 77
Sunday’s results
Virginia Tech 83, Maryland Eastern Shore 53
Wake Forest 111, Queens 73
Tuesday’s games
Lipscomb at No. 3 Duke, 6 p.m., ACC Network
No. 11 Louisville at No. 20 Tennessee, 7 p.m., ESPN
Florida State at Dayton, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network
South Carolina at Clemson, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Florida International at Miami, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Marist at Georgia Tech, 7:30, ACCN Extra
East Tennessee State at No. 12 North Carolina, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Wednesday’s games
Longwood at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Mercyhurst at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Binghamton at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Texas Southern at N.C. State, 7 p.m. ACCN Extra
UT Arlington at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Friday’s games
Mississippi Valley State at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Morgan State at California, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Saturday’s games
Montana at No. 11 Louisville, noon, ACCN Extra
Lafayette at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Elon at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Ohio State vs. No. 12 North Carolina in CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, 3 p.m., CBS
Northeastern at Syracuse, 4 p.m., ACCN Extra
Maryland at No. 23 Virginia, 6 p.m., ESPN
No. 3 Duke at No. 16 Texas Tech, 8 p.m., ESPN
Stanford at Colorado, 8 p.m., ESPNU
| 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 | 8 p.m. | vs. East Tennessee State | ACCN |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | 3 p.m. | vs. Ohio State | CBS |
| ————————— | ||||
| 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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