UNC awaits NCAA fate after slipping in NET, wary of potential ‘bid stealers’ in key games today

By R.L. Bynum

CHARLOTTE — After a narrow loss to a sure No. 1 seed, North Carolina can only wait until the NCAA tournament selection show at 6 p.m. Sunday (CBS) to see if the Tar Heels have done enough to make the field.

In the meantime, the Tar Heels will anxiously watch four league tournaments, hoping that the favorites Memphis, VCU, and UC San Diego prevail over potential “bid stealers.” If UNC makes the field, it’s clear that a trip to the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, where there are games on Tuesday and Wednesday, is ahead.

“I don’t really care where we are at,” RJ Davis said. “This team is a tournament team, and we’ll pull that together. We can compete with the best of the best, and we’ve proven that these past couple of weeks. So, wait for the Selection Show on Sunday and see where we’re gonna be at.”

Guard Seth Trimble was one of many players who said that the Tar Heels should make the field.

‘We’re a tournament team,” he said. “I believe it. The whole team believes it.”

There was minimal damage from UNC’s 74–71 loss to Duke in Friday’s ACC tournament semifinals in the NET rankings, with the Heels only dropping one spot to 36th. However, there would have been little doubt about UNC getting into the field if it had pulled the upset.

“I believe we definitely have the heart, just the players and capability of being in a tournament and making a good run,” Ven-Allen Lubin said.

David Worlock, the NCAA’s director of media coordination, tweeted Saturday morning that 34 of 37 at-large teams have already been selected, and that at least five of those will be automatic qualifiers.

On Bracket Matrix, Carolina went from appearing on 64.6% (73 of 113) of the projections before the Duke game to 36.4% (43 of 118) after the game to 23.7% Sunday (23 of 97).

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had UNC as the third team in his “Last four in” list Friday morning, the last team in late Friday night, the first team out in his Saturday morning update and has the Heels as the second team out behind Indiana in his Saturday afternoon update.

Joe Rexrode of The Athletic of Joe Rexrode has UNC as the second team out and Jerry Palm of CBS has Carolina as the third team out, both in Saturday updates.

On3’s James Fletcher III has UNC as the last team in, as a No. 12 seed, meeting Boise State in the First Four.


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 80): 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


In his Saturday noon update, Bart Torvik dropped UNC from the fourth team on his “Last four byes” list to the second team out of the field behind Texas.

There are a few other games to watch involving teams that have to win league tournaments to make the field. If they do, it would reduce the number of NCAA at-large berths.

In a battle of bubble teams at Saturday’s Mountain West tournament championship game, No. 2-seed Colorado State (25–9; 47th in the NET) blew out No. 5-seed Boise State (23–10, 44th in NET) 69–56. Boise State was listed as the fourth team on Lunardi’s “Last four in” and Colorado State wasn’t listed.

In Saturday night’s Big West tournament championship game, No. 1-seed UC San Diego (28–4; 35th) beat No. 2-seed UC Irvine (27–6; 62nd) 75–61 to prevent UC Irvine from becoming a bid stealer.

No. 1-seed VCU (28–6; 31st) ousted No. 2 George Mason (26–8; 68th) 66–63 in Sunday’s Atlantic 10 championship. Only VCU was projected to make the field. No. 1-seed Memphis (29–5; 50th) eliminated another potential bid stealer with an 84–72 win over No. 3-seed UAB (21–12; 104th) in American Athletic championship 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.


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)

OpponentNET
ranking
Quad
designation
Outcome
Elon1844Win
At Kansas201Loss
American2264Win
At Hawai’i2233Win
(N) Dayton672Win
(N) Auburn21Loss
(N) Michigan State111Loss
Alabama61Loss
Georgia Tech1093Win
La Salle2144Win
(N) Florida41Loss
(N) UCLA271Win
Campbell2224Win
At Louisville231Loss
At Notre Dame1033Win
SMU462Win
At N.C. State1322Win
California1253Win
Stanford813Loss
At Wake Forest691Loss
Boston College2024Win
At Pittsburgh611Loss
At Duke11Loss
Pittsburgh612Win
At Clemson221Loss
At Syracuse1332Win
N.C. State1323Win
Virginia1103Win
At Florida State902Win
Miami2254Win
At Virginia Tech1673Win
Duke11Loss
(N) Notre Dame 1033Win
(N) Wake Forest 692Win
(N) Duke11Loss
Quad designations are according to the current NET rankings. The only designation that matters is the designation on Selection Sunday.

DateMonth/dayScoresOpponent/event
(current ranks)
Record
October
15TuesdayW, 84–76at No. 16 MemphisExhibition
27SundayW, 127–63vs. Johnson C. SmithExhibition
November
4MondayW, 90–76vs. Elon1–0
8FridayL, 92–89at Kansas1–1
15FridayW, 107–55vs. American2–1
22FridayW, 85–69at Hawai’i3–1
Maui Invitational
25MondayW, 92–90Dayton4–1
26TuesdayL, 85–72No. 3 Auburn4–2
27WednesdayL, 94–91, OTNo. 7 Michigan State4–3
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
4WednesdayL, 94–79vs. No. 5 Alabama4–4
—————————
7SaturdayW, 68–65vs. Georgia Tech5–4,
1–0 ACC
14SaturdayW, 93–67vs. LaSalle6–4
Jumpman Invitational
in Charlotte
17TuesdayL, 90–84No. 4 Florida6–5
CBS Sports Classic
at Madison Square Garden
21SaturdayW, 76–74UCLA7–5
—————————
29SundayW, 97–81vs. Campbell8–5
January
1WednesdayL, 83–70at No. 13 Louisville8–6, 1–1
4SaturdayW, 74–73at Notre Dame9–6, 2–1
7TuesdayW, 82–67vs. SMU10–6, 3–1
11SaturdayW, 63–61at N.C. State11–6, 4–1
15WednesdayW, 79–53vs. California12–6, 5–1
18SaturdayL, 72–71vs. Stanford12–7, 5–2
21TuesdayL, 67–66at Wake Forest12–8, 5–3
25SaturdayW, 102–96, OTvs. Boston College13–8, 6–3
28TuesdayL, 73–65at Pittsburgh13–9, 6–4
February
1SaturdayL, 87–70at No. 1 Duke13–10, 6–5
8SaturdayW, 67–66vs. Pittsburgh14–10, 7–5
10MondayL, 85–65at No. 10 Clemson14–11, 7–6
15SaturdayW, 88–82at Syracuse15–11, 8–6
19WednesdayW, 97–73vs. N.C. State16–11, 9–6
22SaturdayW, 81–66vs. Virginia17–11, 10–6
24MondayW, 96–85at Florida State18–11, 11–6
March
1SaturdayW, 92–73vs. Miami19–11, 12–6
4TuesdayW, 91–59at Virginia Tech20–11, 13–6
8SaturdayL, 82–69vs. No. 1 Duke20–12, 13–7
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center, Charlotte
12WednesdayW, 76–562nd-round:
vs. Notre Dame
21–12
13ThursdayW, 68–59Quarterfinal:
vs. Wake Forest
22–12
14FridayL, 72–71Semifinal:
vs. No. 1 Duke
22–13
NCAA tournament
18 Tuesday9:10 p.m.First Four in Dayton, Ohio:
vs. San Diego State
truTV
21Friday4:05 p.m.First round in Milwaukee
(with Tuesday win):
vs. Ole Miss
TNT

Photo by Smith Hardy

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