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 1–9; 2 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 5–0; 1 game left): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 4–1; 4 games left): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 4–0; 1 game 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: 45
Highest NET: 25 on Dec. 2
Lowest NET: 47 on Jan. 1
Average opponent NET: 86
Average NET win: 129
Average NET loss: 26
NET strength of schedule: 13
KenPom: 41
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 31
KPI: 56
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 49
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Saturday’s games)
| Opponent | NET ranking | Quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elon | 164 | 3 | Win |
| At Kansas | 11 | 1 | Loss |
| American | 234 | 4 | Win |
| At Hawai’i | 187 | 3 | Win |
| (N) Dayton | 75 | 2 | Win |
| (N) Auburn | 1 | 1 | Loss |
| (N) Michigan State | 19 | 1 | Loss |
| Alabama | 6 | 1 | Loss |
| Georgia Tech | 127 | 3 | Win |
| La Salle | 191 | 4 | Win |
| (N) Florida | 5 | 1 | Loss |
| (N) UCLA | 25 | 1 | Win |
| Campbell | 171 | 4 | Win |
| At Louisville | 28 | 1 | Loss |
| At Notre Dame | 97 | 2 | Win |
| SMU | 39 | 2 | Win |
| At N.C. State | 120 | 2 | Win |
| California | 128 | 3 | Win |
| Stanford | 78 | 3 | Loss |
| At Wake Forest | 60 | 1 | Loss |
| Boston College | 221 | 4 | Win |
| At Pittsburgh | 47 | 1 | Loss |
| At Duke | 2 | 1 | Loss |
| Pittsburgh | 47 | 2 | Win |
| At Clemson | 30 | 1 | |
| At Syracuse | 146 | 2 | |
| N.C. State | 120 | 3 | |
| Virginia | 105 | 3 | |
| At Florida State | 87 | 2 | |
| Miami | 225 | 4 | |
| At Virginia Tech | 152 | 3 | |
| Duke | 2 | 1 |
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall | NET |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 Duke | 12–1 | 20–3 | 2 |
| Clemson | 11–2 | 19–5 | 30 |
| Louisville | 11–2 | 18–6 | 28 |
| Wake Forest | 10–3 | 18–6 | 60 |
| SMU | 9–3 | 18–5 | 39 |
| Stanford | 8–5 | 16–8 | 78 |
| North Carolina | 7–5 | 14–10 | 45 |
| Virginia Tech | 6–7 | 11–13 | 152 |
| Florida State | 5–7 | 14–9 | 87 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–7 | 14–9 | 47 |
| California | 5–8 | 12–12 | 128 |
| Virginia | 5–8 | 12–12 | 105 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–8 | 11–13 | 127 |
| Syracuse | 5–8 | 11–13 | 146 |
| Notre Dame | 4–8 | 10–13 | 97 |
| Boston College | 2–10 | 10–13 | 221 |
| N.C. State | 2–10 | 9–14 | 120 |
| Miami | 1–11 | 5–18 | 225 |
Saturday’s results
North Carolina 67, Pittsburgh 66
Virginia Tech 65, Notre Dame 63
Louisville 88, Miami 78
Syracuse 95, Boston College 86, 3 OTs
Wake Forest 76, California 66
Virginia 75, Georgia Tech 61
Clemson 77, No. 2 Duke 71
Stanford 74, N.C. State 73
Monday’s game
North Carolina at Clemson, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday’s games
Syracuse at Miami, 7 p.m., ACCN
Pittsburgh at SMU, 9 p.m., ACCN
Wednesday’s games
Stanford at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACCN
Florida State at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Louisville at N.C. State, 7 p.m., ESPN 2
Notre Dame at Boston College, 9 p.m., ESPNU
California at No. 2 Duke, 9 p.m., ACCN
Saturday’s games
Clemson at Florida State, noon, The CW
Miami at Pittsburgh, noon, ESPN2
Virginia at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m, The CW
Boston College at N.C. State, 2 p.m., ACCN
Stanford at No. 2 Duke, 4 p.m., ABC
California at Georgia Tech, 4 p.m., ACCN
North Carolina at Syracuse, 6 p.m., ESPN
Wake Forest at SMU, 6 p.m., ACCN
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 84–76 | at No. 19 Memphis | Exhibition |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 127–63 | vs. Johnson C. Smith | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 4 | Monday | W, 90–76 | vs. Elon | 1–0 |
| 8 | Friday | L, 92–89 | at No. 11 Kansas | 1–1 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 107–55 | vs. American | 2–1 |
| 22 | Friday | W, 85–69 | at Hawai’i | 3–1 |
| Maui Invitational | ||||
| 25 | Monday | W, 92–90 | Dayton | 4–1 |
| 26 | Tuesday | L, 85–72 | No. 1 Auburn | 4–2 |
| 27 | Wednesday | L, 94–91, OT | No. 7 Michigan State | 4–3 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Wednesday | L, 94–79 | vs. No. 4 Alabama | 4–4 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Saturday | W, 68–65 | vs. Georgia Tech | 5–4, 1–0 ACC |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 93–67 | vs. LaSalle | 6–4 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 90–84 | No. 5 Florida | 6–5 |
| CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden | ||||
| 21 | Saturday | W, 76–74 | UCLA | 7–5 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Sunday | W, 97–81 | vs. Campbell | 8–5 |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | L, 83–70 | at No. 21 Louisville | 8–6, 1–1 |
| 4 | Saturday | W, 74–73 | at Notre Dame | 9–6, 2–1 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 82–67 | vs. SMU | 10–6, 3–1 |
| 11 | Saturday | W, 63–61 | at N.C. State | 11–6, 4–1 |
| 15 | Wednesday | W, 79–53 | vs. California | 12–6, 5–1 |
| 18 | Saturday | L, 72–71 | vs. Stanford | 12–7, 5–2 |
| 21 | Tuesday | L, 67–66 | at Wake Forest | 12–8, 5–3 |
| 25 | Saturday | W, 102–96, OT | vs. Boston College | 13–8, 6–3 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 73–65 | at Pittsburgh | 13–9, 6–4 |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | L, 87–70 | at No. 2 Duke | 13–10, 6–5 |
| 8 | Saturday | W, 67–66 | vs. Pittsburgh | 14–10, 7–5 |
| 10 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Clemson | ESPN |
| 15 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ESPN |
| 19 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 22 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Virginia | ESPN |
| 24 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Florida State | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | Noon | vs. Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 4 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU |
| 8 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 2 Duke | ESPN |
| 11– 15 | Tues.–Sat. | ACC tournament Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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