By R.L. Bynum
LEXINGTON, Ky. — North Carolina isn’t wasting any time polishing its NCAA tournament resume.
After the No. 16 Tar Heels’ 67–64 victory at No. 18 Kentucky, they jumped up 11 spots in the NET rankings to 15. Even though UNC didn’t play Wednesday, it moved up two more spots to 13th.
UNC is already 10 spots higher than its season-best of 25 last season and has doubled the number of Quad 1 wins it earned last season (one) after also earning an 87–74 home win on Nov. 7 over Kansas.
The NCAA tournament committee 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 3–2; 10 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; 3 games left): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 4–0; 2 games left): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 6–0; no games left): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower
Carolina, which went up from 31 to 22 in KenPom, was the second-biggest riser in the NET from Tuesday’s games after Georgia, which moved up 20 spots to 14th after throttling Florida State on the road 107–73.
Next up for UNC is a Quad 3 home game at 5 p.m. Sunday against Georgetown (5–2), which is 106th in the NET entering Wednesday’s 8 p.m. home game against UMBC (truTV).
Carolina now has 10 games currently classified as Quad 1, with the addition of the home game Clemson, which moved up to 27 despite not playing on Tuesday.
The Virginia Tech game moved from a Quad 3 to a Quad 2 after the Hokies’ 86–83 overtime win at South Carolina bumped the Hokies up 12 spots to 70th in the NET. The Wake Forest game slipped from a Quad 2 to a Quad 3 after the Deacons lost 86–68 at home to Oklahoma to drop 26 spots in the NET to 80.
UNC’s NCAA résumé
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 23
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 26 (2 days)
Average opponent NET: 144
Average NET win: 162
Average NET loss: 19
NET strength of schedule: 71
KenPom: 33
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 36
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 27
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Sunday games)
| Date | Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | Central Arkansas | 235 | 4 | Win |
| N7 | Kansas | 22 | 1 | Win |
| N11 | Radford | 262 | 4 | Win |
| N14 | N.C. Central | 341 | 4 | Win |
| N18 | Navy | 184 | 4 | Win |
| N25 | (N) St. Bonaventure | 128 | 3 | Win |
| N27 | (N) Michigan State | 14 | 1 | Loss |
| D2 | At Kentucky | 35 | 1 | Win |
| D7 | Georgetown | 135 | 3 | Win |
| D13 | USC Upstate | 280 | 4 | Win |
| D16 | ETSU | 113 | 3 | Win |
| D20 | (N) Ohio State | 39 | 1 | Win |
| D22 | East Carolina | 303 | 4 | Win |
| D30 | Florida State | 133 | 3 | Win |
| J3 | At SMU | 24 | 1 | Loss |
| J10 | Wake Forest | 63 | 2 | Win |
| J14 | At Stanford | 73 | 1 | |
| J17 | At California | 71 | 1 | |
| J21 | Notre Dame | 74 | 2 | |
| J24 | At Virginia | 16 | 1 | |
| J31 | At Georgia Tech | 146 | 3 | |
| F2 | Syracuse | 67 | 2 | |
| F7 | Duke | 4 | 1 | |
| F10 | At Miami | 33 | 1 | |
| F14 | Pittsburgh | 111 | 3 | |
| F17 | At N.C. State | 31 | 1 | |
| F21 | At Syracuse | 67 | 1 | |
| F23 | Louisville | 18 | 1 | |
| F28 | Virginia Tech | 59 | 2 | |
| M3 | Clemson | 28 | 1 | |
| M7 | At Duke | 4 | 1 |
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 22 Clemson | 5–0 | 15–3 | 28 |
| No. 6 Duke | 4–0 | 15–1 | 3 |
| Miami | 4–0 | 15–2 | 32 |
| No. 16 Virginia | 4–1 | 15–2 | 16 |
| N.C. State | 3–1 | 12–5 | 31 |
| Syracuse | 3–1 | 12–5 | 65 |
| No. 14 North Carolina | 2–1 | 14–2 | 22 |
| Stanford | 2–2 | 13–4 | 69 |
| Virginia Tech | 2–2 | 13–4 | 59 |
| No. 20 Louisville | 2–3 | 12–5 | 20 |
| No. 24 SMU | 1–2 | 12–4 | 25 |
| California | 1–3 | 13–4 | 67 |
| Georgia Tech | 1–3 | 10–7 | 142 |
| Notre Dame | 1–3 | 10–7 | 76 |
| Wake Forest | 1–3 | 10–7 | 61 |
| Pittsburgh | 0–3 | 7–9 | 111 |
| Boston College | 0–4 | 7–10 | 184 |
| Florida State | 0–4 | 7–10 | 132 |
* — Through Tuesday games
Tuesday’s results
No. 22 Clemson 74, Boston College 50
Miami 81, Notre Dame 69
No. 16 Virginia 79, No. 20 Louisville 70
Syracuse 94, Florida State 86
Wednesday’s games
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 14 North Carolina at Stanford, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia Tech at SMU, 9 p.m., ESPNU
No. 6 Duke at California, 11 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
No. 16 Virginia at SMU, noon, ESPN2
Notre Dame at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
Georgia Tech at N.C. State, noon, The CW
Syracuse at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Miami at No. 22 Clemson, 2:15, The CW
No. 14 North Carolina at California, 4 p.m., ACC Network
No. 6 Duke at Stanford, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Wake Forest at Florida State, 6 p.m., ESPN
No. 20 Louisville at Pittsburgh, 8 p.m., ESPN2
Tuesday’s games
N.C. State at No. 22 Clemson, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Florida State at Miami, 7 p.m., ESPNU
SMU at Wake Forest, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Wednesday, Jan. 21, games
Notre Dame at No. 14 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Pittsburgh at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia Tech at Syracuse, 9 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 11 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. 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. 12 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 | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 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 p.m. | at No. 16 Virginia | ESPN |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 6 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. 20 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 22 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 6 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
tarheeltribune.com 