By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina avoided what would have been a damaging Quad 3 loss by knocking off Pittsburgh at home on Saturday, 79–65, to keep its NET ranking at 25 ahead of three consecutive Quad 1 games it must traverse without Caleb Wilson.
But two consecutive Clemson losses have taken away one of the five Quad 1 chances that the No. 11 Tar Heels (20–5, 8–4 ACC) had been expecting over the last six regular-season games.
With a 67–54 home win for No. 4 Duke (23–2, 12–1) over the Tigers (20–6, 10–3), the Blue Devils moved up one spot to 2 in the NET. The Tigers’ NET ranking of 32 makes Carolina’s March 3 home game Quad 2. That could return to Quad 1 if Clemson rises two spots to 30 in the NET.
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 5–5; 4 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 2–0; 2 games left): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 8–0; no games left): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 5–0; no games left): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower
Tuesday’s 7 p.m. game at N.C. State (18–8, 9–4; 29 NET ranking) still is solidly a Quad 1 game despite the Wolfpack’s 77–76 home loss Saturday to Miami (20–5, 9–3; 35).
Quad 1 games ahead in addition to Tuesday’s game against the Wolfpack include two in a stretch of three days: at Syracuse (15–11, 6–7; 69) on Saturday and at home against No. 24 Louisville (19–6, 8–4; 12) on Monday, Feb. 23.
There are then two Quad 2 games — the Feb. 27 home game against Virginia Tech (17–9, 6–7; 56) and the March 3 home matchup with Clemson — before the Quad 1 regular-season finale against Duke.
Before Saturday’s results, the consensus among 112 bracket projections on Bracket Matrix was that UNC would be the second-highest No. 5 seed. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, in a Friday projection, had the Tar Heels as a No. 6 seed in the East Regional (Washington) and playing first- and second-round games in Greenville, S.C.
UNC’s NCAA résumé
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 25
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 30 (4 days)
Average opponent NET: 110
Average NET win: 126
Average NET loss: 43
NET strength of schedule: 64
KenPom: 28
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 32
Bart Torvick T-Rank: 25
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Saturday games)
| Date | Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | Central Arkansas | 181 | 4 | Win |
| N7 | Kansas | 14 | 1 | Win |
| N11 | Radford | 240 | 4 | Win |
| N14 | N.C. Central | 339 | 4 | Win |
| N18 | Navy | 151 | 4 | Win |
| N25 | (N) St. Bonaventure | 145 | 3 | Win |
| N27 | (N) Michigan State | 15 | 1 | Loss |
| D2 | At Kentucky | 28 | 1 | Win |
| D7 | Georgetown | 91 | 3 | Win |
| D13 | USC Upstate | 293 | 4 | Win |
| D16 | ETSU | 127 | 3 | Win |
| D20 | (N) Ohio State | 38 | 1 | Win |
| D22 | East Carolina | 269 | 4 | Win |
| D30 | Florida State | 82 | 3 | Win |
| J3 | At SMU | 36 | 1 | Loss |
| J10 | Wake Forest | 64 | 2 | Win |
| J14 | At Stanford | 70 | 1 | Loss |
| J17 | At California | 60 | 1 | Loss |
| J21 | Notre Dame | 87 | 3 | Win |
| J24 | At Virginia | 19 | 1 | Win |
| J31 | At Georgia Tech | 163 | 3 | Win |
| F2 | Syracuse | 69 | 2 | Win |
| F7 | Duke | 2 | 1 | Win |
| F10 | At Miami | 35 | 1 | Loss |
| F14 | Pittsburgh | 122 | 3 | Win |
| F17 | At N.C. State | 29 | 1 | |
| F21 | At Syracuse | 69 | 1 | |
| F23 | Louisville | 12 | 1 | |
| F28 | Virginia Tech | 56 | 2 | |
| M3 | Clemson | 32 | 2 | |
| M7 | At Duke | 2 | 1 |
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 22 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. 9 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. 10 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at No. 25 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 | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 15 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 4 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo by Daniel Walker
tarheeltribune.com 