By R.L. Bynum
BLACKSBURG, Va. — North Carolina continues to do what it can control to improve its NCAA tournament resume, and the only way to improve it in a Quad 3 game is to win decisively.
The Tar Heels (20–11, 13–6 ACC) did that Tuesday with a 91–59 victory at Virginia Tech (13–17, 8–11; fell seven spots to 162nd in the NET) for their sixth consecutive victory to jump five spots to 38th in the NET rankings. That’s the highest NET ranking for UNC since it was 38th after its Jan. 21 loss at Wake Forest.
Only Arkansas (18–12) made a bigger jump, moving up eight spots to 39th after Tuesday’s 90–77 Quad 1 win at Vanderbilt.
A big reason for UNC’s streak is that the Tar Heels have scored 44 3-pointers in the last four games, the fourth-most in a four-game stretch in program history and the most since 2021–22.
“What has really allowed us to shoot the ball better from the outside has been our persistence to dominate points in the paint,” UNC coach Hubert Davis. “Post penetration, offensive rebounding is generating good threes, open threes, and a number of people are hitting those open shots.”
Carolina’s 15 3-pointers against the Hokies were tied for the most under Davis (also vs. Clemson on Feb. 11, 2023, The Citadel on Dec. 13, 2022, and N.C. State on Jan. 29, 2022). UNC has scored at least 10 3-pointers in three straight games for the first time since Marquette, Baylor and UCLA in the first three rounds of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
“There are a lot of catch and shoot threes. They’re good threes,” Davis said. “The passes that are coming to the shooters — they’re on point and on time, and they’re coming at the right time, and put us in situations where we can attack closeouts. We’re passing up good shots to get great shots.”
It’s up for debate whether they have done enough to make the field, but they’ve put themselves in a good position.
Carolina would be a lock if it can pull the upset over No. 2 Duke (27–3, 18–1), which takes a seven-game win streak into Saturday’s 6:30 senior night game (ESPN) at the Smith Center. With No. 1-ranked Auburn’s 83–72 loss Tuesday at No. 22 Texas Tech, the Blue Devils moved up to 1st in the NET rankings.
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 1–10; 1 game 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): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 8–1): 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
After Saturday’s Miami win, UNC appeared on 11.1% of projections on Bracket Matrix. That percentage went up to 18.2% (19 of 104) in the Monday update to 19.5% (25 of 128) in the Tuesday to 22% (26 of 118) on Wednesday.
Andy Katz has UNC in the field as a No. 11 seed, heading to the First Four in Dayton.
The Team Rankings website gives UNC a 49% chance of making the field after giving the Tar Heels only a 30% chance three weeks ago.
In a Tuesday projection, Bill Bender of The Sporting News has Carolina as the second team on his “Last four in” list, projecting the Tar Heels as the No. 11 seed.
Most other Tuesday updates still have UNC on “first four out” lists, with Jerry Palm of CBS, Joe Rexrode of The Athletic and Patrick Stevens of The Washington Post putting UNC second, Joe Lunardi of ESPN and Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report having the Heels third and USA Today putting Carolina fourth on that list.
UNC’s NCAA resume
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 38
Highest NET: 25 on Dec. 2
Lowest NET: 51 on Feb. 10
Average opponent NET: 100
Average NET win: 140
Average NET loss: 28
NET strength of schedule: 44
KenPom: 38
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 27
KPI: 53
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 42
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Tuesday’s games)
| Opponent | NET ranking | Quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elon | 173 | 4 | Win |
| At Kansas | 21 | 1 | Loss |
| American | 238 | 4 | Win |
| At Hawai’i | 220 | 3 | Win |
| (N) Dayton | 68 | 2 | Win |
| (N) Auburn | 2 | 1 | Loss |
| (N) Michigan State | 11 | 1 | Loss |
| Alabama | 6 | 1 | Loss |
| Georgia Tech | 107 | 3 | Win |
| La Salle | 233 | 4 | Win |
| (N) Florida | 4 | 1 | Loss |
| (N) UCLA | 26 | 1 | Win |
| Campbell | 212 | 4 | Win |
| At Louisville | 25 | 1 | Loss |
| At Notre Dame | 102 | 2 | Win |
| SMU | 46 | 2 | Win |
| At N.C. State | 138 | 3 | Win |
| California | 126 | 3 | Win |
| Stanford | 83 | 3 | Loss |
| At Wake Forest | 70 | 1 | Loss |
| Boston College | 200 | 4 | Win |
| At Pittsburgh | 59 | 1 | Loss |
| At Duke | 1 | 1 | Loss |
| Pittsburgh | 59 | 2 | Win |
| At Clemson | 22 | 1 | Loss |
| At Syracuse | 139 | 2 | Win |
| N.C. State | 138 | 3 | Win |
| Virginia | 103 | 3 | Win |
| At Florida State | 89 | 2 | Win |
| Miami | 229 | 4 | Win |
| At Virginia Tech | 162 | 3 | |
| Duke | 1 | 1 |
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall | NET |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 Duke | 18–1 | 27–3 | 1 |
| No. 11 Clemson | 17–2 | 25–5 | 22 |
| No. 14 Louisville | 16–2 | 23–6 | 25 |
| North Carolina | 13–6 | 20–11 | 38 |
| SMU | 12–6 | 22–8 | 46 |
| Wake Forest | 12–7 | 20–10 | 70 |
| Stanford | 11–7 | 19–10 | 83 |
| Georgia Tech | 10–9 | 16–14 | 107 |
| Virginia | 8–11 | 15–15 | 103 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–11 | 13–17 | 162 |
| Florida State | 7–12 | 16–14 | 89 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–12 | 16–14 | 59 |
| California | 6–12 | 13–16 | 126 |
| Notre Dame | 6–12 | 12–17 | 102 |
| Syracuse | 6–13 | 12–18 | 139 |
| N.C. State | 5–14 | 12–18 | 138 |
| Boston College | 4–15 | 12–18 | 200 |
| Miami | 2–17 | 6–24 | 229 |
Monday’s result
No. 2 Duke 93, Wake Forest 60
Tuesday’s results
North Carolina 91, Virginia Tech 59
Georgia Tech 89, Miami 74
SMU 77, Syracuse 75
Virginia 60, Florida State 57
Wednesday’s games
No. 11 Clemson 78, Boston College 69
N.C. State 71, Pittsburgh 63
California at No. 14 Louisville, 9 p.m., ACCN
Stanford at Notre Dame, 9 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday’s games
N.C. State at Miami, noon, The CW
Stanford at No. 14 Louisville, 2 p.m., ESPNU
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest, 2:15, The CW
SMU at Florida State, 4 p.m., ESPNU
California at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., ACCN
Virginia Tech at Clemson, 6 p.m., ESPNU
Boston College at Pitt, 6 p.m., ACCN
No. 2 Duke at North Carolina, 6:30, ESPN
Virginia at Syracuse, 8 p.m., ACCN
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center in Charlotte
Tuesday through March 15
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 84–76 | at No. 16 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. 17 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. 8 Michigan State | 4–3 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Wednesday | L, 94–79 | vs. No. 6 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. 3 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 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 | L, 85–65 | at No. 13 Clemson | 14–11, 7–6 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 88–82 | at Syracuse | 15–11, 8–6 |
| 19 | Wednesday | W, 97–73 | vs. N.C. State | 16–11, 9–6 |
| 22 | Saturday | W, 81–66 | vs. Virginia | 17–11, 10–6 |
| 24 | Monday | W, 96–85 | at Florida State | 18–11, 11–6 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | W, 92–73 | vs. Miami | 19–11, 12–6 |
| 4 | Tuesday | W, 91–59 | at Virginia Tech | 20–11, 13–6 |
| 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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