By R.L. Bynum
The NET rankings can fluctuate wildly early in the season and lead to surprising changes.
That was the case for No. 12-ranked North Carolina (11–1) when the Tar Heels fell four spots to 19 in the NET rankings after Saturday night’s 71–70 Quad 1 victory in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta over Ohio State.
With the Buckeyes’ NET ranking only dropping to 47 the victory will stay Quad 1 for now. But it would become Quad 2 if that falls below 50.
The consensus of the 35 projections that Bracket Matrix lists is for UNC to be a low No. 4 seed, with seven projecting the Tar Heels as high as a No. 3 seed and one listing them as a No. 6 seed. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has UNC as a 5 seed.
UNC plays its final Quad 4 game of the season on Monday at 8 p.m., facing East Carolina (5–7) at the Smith Center (ACC Network). The Pirates’ NET ranking of 289 is the third-worst on Carolina’s schedule behind Radford (298) and N.C. Central (350).
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 3–1; 8 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
All of UNC’s remaining games didn’t change designation based on the weekend games, with eight remaining Quad 1 games, six Quad 2 games and four Quad 3 games.
No. 11 Louisville (10–2) now has the second-best NET ranking in the ACC at 15 after a 94–54 win over Montana.
No. 3 Duke (11–1) fell two spots to 4 after the Blue Devils’ 82–81 loss at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night to No. 19 Texas Tech.
UNC’s NCAA résumé
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 19
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 26 (2 days)
Average opponent NET: 148
Average NET win: 161
Average NET loss: 10
NET strength of schedule: 76
KenPom: 22
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 34
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 22
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Saturday’s games)
| Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Arkansas | 240 | 4 | Win |
| Kansas | 16 | 1 | Win |
| Radford | 298 | 4 | Win |
| N.C. Central | 350 | 4 | Win |
| Navy | 199 | 4 | Win |
| (N) St. Bonaventure | 96 | 2 | Win |
| (N) Michigan State | 10 | 1 | Loss |
| At Kentucky | 23 | 1 | Win |
| Georgetown | 137 | 3 | Win |
| USC Upstate | 209 | 4 | Win |
| ETSU | 151 | 3 | Win |
| (N) Ohio State | 48 | 1 | Win |
| East Carolina | 289 | 4 | |
| Florida State | 144 | 3 | |
| At SMU | 40 | 1 | |
| Wake Forest | 54 | 2 | |
| At Stanford | 80 | 2 | |
| At California | 49 | 1 | |
| Notre Dame | 61 | 2 | |
| At Virginia | 29 | 1 | |
| Georgia Tech | 185 | 3 | |
| Syracuse | 95 | 3 | |
| Duke | 4 | 1 | |
| At Miami | 35 | 1 | |
| Pittsburgh | 156 | 3 | |
| At N.C. State | 32 | 1 | |
| At Syracuse | 95 | 2 | |
| Louisville | 15 | 1 | |
| Virginia Tech | 62 | 2 | |
| Clemson | 36 | 2 | |
| At Duke | 4 | 1 |
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Duke | 0–0 | 11–1 | 4 |
| California | 0–0 | 11–1 | 49 |
| No. 12 North Carolina | 0–0 | 11–1 | 19 |
| No. 23 Virginia | 0–0 | 10–1 | 29 |
| Virginia Tech | 0–0 | 11–2 | 62 |
| No. 11 Louisville | 0–0 | 10–2 | 15 |
| Miami | 0–0 | 10–2 | 35 |
| SMU | 0–0 | 9–2 | 40 |
| Stanford | 0–0 | 9–2 | 80 |
| Clemson | 0–0 | 9–3 | 36 |
| Notre Dame | 0–0 | 9–3 | 61 |
| Wake Forest | 0–0 | 9–3 | 54 |
| Georgia Tech | 0–0 | 8–4 | 185 |
| N.C. State | 0–0 | 8–4 | 32 |
| Syracuse | 0–0 | 8–4 | 95 |
| Florida State | 0–0 | 6–6 | 144 |
| Pittsburgh | 0–0 | 6–6 | 156 |
| Boston College | 0–0 | 5–6 | 178 |
* — Through Saturday games
Friday’s results
Florida State 96, Mississippi Valley State 49
California 97, Morgan State 50
Saturday’s games
No. 12 North Carolina 71, Ohio State 70
No. 11 Louisville 94, Montana 54
Georgia Tech 95, Lafayette 81
Virginia Tech 82, Elon 81, OT
Syracuse 91, Northeastern 83
No. 23 Virginia 80, Maryland 72
No. 16 Texas Tech 82, No. 3 Duke 81
Stanford 77, Colorado 68
Sunday’s games
Penn State vs. Pittsburgh in Hershey, Pa., noon, Big Ten Network
Ole Miss vs. N.C. State in Greensboro, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, 1 p.m., The CW
Purdue Ft. Wayne at Notre Dame, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Central Arkansas at SMU, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Cincinnati vs. Clemson in Greenville, S.C., 3 p.m., ESPN
North Florida at Miami, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Columbia at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Monday’s games
American at Virginia, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Jacksonville at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stonehill at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Fairleigh Dickinson at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
East Carolina at No. 12 North Carolina, 8 p.m., ACC Network
| 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 | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 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 Adam Hagy/Intersport
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