By R.L. Bynum
BERKELEY, Calif. — The NET rankings can be confounding, but that was good for North Carolina after it lost a second Quad 1 game in Northern California.
The Tar Heels’ NET ranking fell to a season-low 30 after Wednesday’s 95–90 loss at Stanford, but moved up to 29 after Saturday’s 84–78 defeat at California to fall to 3–4 in Quad 1 games. The Bears (14–5, 2–4) jumped 10 spots to 59 in the NET after the Quad 1 victory.
No. 14 UNC (14–4, 2–3 ACC) probably won’t be as fortunate when the new AP Top 25 poll comes out on Monday, possibly being unranked for the first time this season.
The Tar Heels return home at 7 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN2) to meet Notre Dame (10–8, 1–4; NET ranking of 78). That game fell from Quad 2 to Quad 3 after the Irish’s 89–76 loss Saturday at Virginia Tech for their fourth consecutive defeat.
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 3–4; 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; 2 games left): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 4–0; 3 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 faces a significant challenge at 2 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) when it visits No. 16 Virginia (16–2, 5–1) in one of eight remaining Quad 1 games. The Cavaliers, who have won five straight games, don’t have a mid-week game, so they’ll be well-rested.
In projections made after the Stanford loss but before the Cal loss, the consensus of 77 NCAA tournament projections listed on Bracket Matrix have the Tar Heels as the third-highest No. 5 seed. Twenty projections have UNC as a No. 4 seed, but 12 have the Heels as a No. 7 seed.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, in a Friday projection, has Carolina as a No. 6 seed, but playing first- and second-round games in Greenville, S.C.
UNC’s NCAA résumé
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 29
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 30 (3 days)
Average opponent NET: 136
Average NET win: 162
Average NET loss: 44
NET strength of schedule: 74
KenPom: 36
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 37
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 31
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Saturday games)
| Date | Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | Central Arkansas | 225 | 4 | Win |
| N7 | Kansas | 17 | 1 | Win |
| N11 | Radford | 269 | 4 | Win |
| N14 | N.C. Central | 342 | 4 | Win |
| N18 | Navy | 196 | 4 | Win |
| N25 | (N) St. Bonaventure | 146 | 3 | Win |
| N27 | (N) Michigan State | 12 | 1 | Loss |
| D2 | At Kentucky | 28 | 1 | Win |
| D7 | Georgetown | 123 | 3 | Win |
| D13 | USC Upstate | 268 | 4 | Win |
| D16 | ETSU | 130 | 3 | Win |
| D20 | (N) Ohio State | 37 | 1 | Win |
| D22 | East Carolina | 292 | 4 | Win |
| D30 | Florida State | 136 | 3 | Win |
| J3 | At SMU | 33 | 1 | Loss |
| J10 | Wake Forest | 58 | 2 | Win |
| J14 | At Stanford | 70 | 1 | Loss |
| J17 | At California | 59 | 1 | Loss |
| J21 | Notre Dame | 78 | 3 | |
| J24 | At Virginia | 14 | 1 | |
| J31 | At Georgia Tech | 131 | 3 | |
| F2 | Syracuse | 75 | 2 | |
| F7 | Duke | 2 | 1 | |
| F10 | At Miami | 30 | 1 | |
| F14 | Pittsburgh | 114 | 3 | |
| F17 | At N.C. State | 34 | 1 | |
| F21 | At Syracuse | 75 | 1 | |
| F23 | Louisville | 16 | 1 | |
| F28 | Virginia Tech | 53 | 2 | |
| M3 | Clemson | 25 | 1 | |
| M7 | At Duke | 2 | 1 |
| 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 | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 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
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