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.
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
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 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
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 |
| 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. ETSU | 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 by Smith Hardy
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