By R.L. Bynum

CHARLOTTE — For the first time since Feb. 2, the consensus on Bracket Matrix is that North Carolina has done enough to make the NCAA tournament, and Bart Torvik projects that the Tar Heels won’t have to play in the First Four.

In a Friday update on Bracket Matrix after the Tar Heels’ 68–59 victory Thursday over Wake Forest in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament, UNC is a consensus No. 12 seed, appearing on 52.9% (45 of 85) of the brackets after going from 9.7% on Wednesday to 37.7% on Thursday.

That’s the highest percentage of brackets that UNC (22–12) has appeared on since making 49.4% (45 of 91) of the brackets on Feb. 2 and the first time the Tar Heels have appeared in more than half the ballots since late January.

UNC moved up one spot in the NET after the win to 35th, its highest position since it was 34th after the Jan. 15 victory over California.

After the win over the Demon Deacons, Torvik — whose metric is one of the ones that the NCAA tournament selection committee uses — has UNC the fourth team on his “Last four byes” list, which would mean no trip to Dayton for the First Four.

The latest projections of Joe Lunardi’s ESPN and USA Today have UNC as the third team in “Last four in” lists and playing in the First Four. Lunardi has UNC facing San Diego State as a No. 11 seed and USA Today has the Heels taking on Boise State as a No. 12 seed. On3 projects UNC to face West Virginia as a No. 11 seed in the First Four.

Jerry Palm of CBS has UNC as the first team of his “First 4 out” list.

Coach Hubert Davis isn’t worried about all of that.

“My communication with them in regards to the NCAA tournament has been zero,” he said. “What is real for us is our improvement as a team. What is real for us has been the opponent right in front of us. Right now, it’s playing Duke [Friday] at 7:00. Those are the things that we’re focused on.”

While it may not be his focus, a Quad 1 win over the No. 1 Blue Devils (29–3; 1st in NET) would all but seal an NCAA tournament berth. Should UNC get past Duke, it would get a second consecutive Quad 1 game in the ACC tournament championship against either Clemson (26–5; 22nd in the NET) or Louisville (26–6; 26th).

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NCAA quadrant system

Quadrant 1 (UNC is 2–1; 9 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; 6 games left): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 2–0; 4 games left): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 5–0; 1 games left): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower

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Thursday was a mixed bag for UNC regarding success for other teams battling in the bubble for an NCAA berth:
— Indiana (19–13; 54th in NET) lost 72–59 in the Big Ten tournament to Oregon.
— Xavier (21–11; 46th) lost 89–87 in the Big East tournament to No. 25 Marquette.
— Boise State (23–9; 43rd) beat San Diego State 62–52 in the Mountain West tournament. The Broncos face New Mexico (25–6; 42nd in NET) at 9:30 Friday night in the semifinals in a Quad 1 game.
— Texas (19–15; 38th) upset No. 14 Texas A&M 94–89 in double overtime in the SEC tournament but lost on Friday to No. 8 Tennessee (26–6; 5th in the NET) 83–72 Friday, with both games Quad 1.
— Colorado State (23–9; 52nd) beat Nevada 67–59 in the Mountain West tournament. The Rams take on Utah State (25–6; 37th in NET) in a semifinal game at midnight Friday, a Quad 1 game.

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.

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UNC’s NCAA résumé

(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 15
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 26 (2 days)
Average opponent NET: 151
Average NET win: 165
Average NET loss: 10
NET strength of schedule: 92
KenPom: 22
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 34
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 24

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UNC quad schedule breakdown

(Through Wednesday’s games)

Opponent	NET ranking	Current quad designation	Outcome
Central Arkansas	240	4	Win
Kansas	13	1	Win
Radford	301	4	Win
N.C. Central	343	4	Win
Navy	208	4	Win
(N) St. Bonaventure	97	2	Win
(N) Michigan State	10	1	Loss
At Kentucky	28	1	Win
Georgetown	111	3	Win
USC Upstate	198	4	Win
ETSU	109	3	Win
(N) Ohio State	47	1
East Carolina	288	4
Florida State	148	3
At SMU	43	1
Wake Forest	59	2
At Stanford	98	2
At California	63	1
Notre Dame	65	2
At Virginia	21	1
Georgia Tech	189	3
Syracuse	96	3
Duke	2	1
At Miami	33	1
Pittsburgh	154	3
At N.C. State	34	1
At Syracuse	96	2
Louisville	17	1
Virginia Tech	58	2
Clemson	32	2
At Duke	2	1

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ACC tournament

Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday’s first round
No. 12 Notre Dame 55, No. 13 Pittsburgh 54
No. 15 California 82, No. 10 Virginia Tech 73, 2 OTs
No. 14 Syracuse 66, No. 11 Florida State 62
Wednesday’s second round
No. 8 Georgia Tech 66, No. 9 Virginia 60
No. 5 North Carolina 76, Notre Dame 56
No. 7 Stanford 78, California 73
No. 6 SMU 73, Syracuse 53
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 1 (and No. 1-ranked) Duke 78, Georgia Tech 70
North Carolina 68, No. 4 Wake Forest 59
No. 2 (and No. 13-ranked) Louisville 75, Stanford 73
No. 3 (and No. 10-ranked) Clemson 57, SMU 54
Friday’s semifinals
Duke 72, North Carolina 71
Louisville 76, Clemson 73
Saturday’s championship
Duke 73, Louisville 62

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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	W, 77–58	vs. East Tennessee State	10–1
			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 the ACC