By R.L. Bynum
No. 18 North Carolina moved up two spots in the NET rankings after the Tar Heels’ sixth Quad 1 game of the season Monday night.
The Tar Heels (22–6, 10–5 ACC) are up to 25, while No. 24 Louisville (20–8, 9–6) slipped one spot to 14 after UNC’s 77–74 victory at the Smith Center. UNC went down in KenPom (from 29 to 30) and Bart Torvik’s T-Rank (27 to 28) while going up from 32 to 30 in ESPN’s BPI.
Barring upsets, Carolina likely will have to win its last three regular-season games — at home at 8:30 Saturday (ESPN2) against Virginia Tech (18–10, 7–8; NET ranking of 50), at home on Tuesday, March 3, against Clemson (20–8, 10–5; 38) and at No. 1 Duke (25–2, 13–1; 2) on March 7 — to earn a double-bye in the ACC tournament.
The two home games are both Quad 2, and the Duke game is Quad 1. Going 2–1 could be enough to earn a No. 4 seed.
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 6–6; 1 game 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 3–0; 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
The consensus of 112 bracket projections updated Monday on Bracket Matrix had UNC as the third-highest No. 6 seed. Five have UNC as a No. 5 seed, with all of the others projecting the Tar Heels as a No. 6 seed.
In Tuesday projections for UNC:
— USA Today: No. 5 seed in the South Regional (Houston), playing early-round games in Portland, Ore.
— ESPN’s Joe Lunardi: No. 6 seed in the Midwest Regional (Chicago) and playing first- and second-round games in Tampa
— Joe Rexrode’s of The Athletic: No. 6 seed in the Midwest, but with first-and second-round games in Oklahoma City
— Patrick Stevens, on oviesandgiglio.com: No. 6 seed in the South, with first- and second-round games in Greenville, S.C.
— Made For March: No. 6 seed in the West Regional (San Diego), with early games in Tampa.
— Mike DeCourcy on Fox College Sports: No. 6 seed in Midwest.
— Bill Bender of The Sporting News: Third-highest No. 6 seed
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UNC’s NCAA résumé
(Via bracketologists.com)
NET ranking: 25
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 30 (4 days)
Average opponent NET: 102
Average NET win: 119
Average NET loss: 39
NET strength of schedule: 54
KenPom: 30
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 30
Bart Torvik T-Rank: 27
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Monday games)
| Date | Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | Central Arkansas | 179 | 4 | Win |
| N7 | Kansas | 13 | 1 | Win |
| N11 | Radford | 245 | 4 | Win |
| N14 | N.C. Central | 346 | 4 | Win |
| N18 | Navy | 140 | 4 | Win |
| N25 | (N) St. Bonaventure | 155 | 3 | Win |
| N27 | (N) Michigan State | 12 | 1 | Loss |
| D2 | At Kentucky | 29 | 1 | Win |
| D7 | Georgetown | 93 | 3 | Win |
| D13 | USC Upstate | 287 | 4 | Win |
| D16 | ETSU | 119 | 3 | Win |
| D20 | (N) Ohio State | 37 | 1 | Win |
| D22 | East Carolina | 271 | 4 | Win |
| D30 | Florida State | 74 | 2 | Win |
| J3 | At SMU | 31 | 1 | Loss |
| J10 | Wake Forest | 65 | 2 | Win |
| J14 | At Stanford | 72 | 1 | Loss |
| J17 | At California | 59 | 1 | Loss |
| J21 | Notre Dame | 89 | 3 | Win |
| J24 | At Virginia | 16 | 1 | Win |
| J31 | At Georgia Tech | 171 | 3 | Win |
| F2 | Syracuse | 76 | 3 | Win |
| F7 | Duke | 2 | 1 | Win |
| F10 | At Miami | 35 | 1 | Loss |
| F14 | Pittsburgh | 122 | 3 | Win |
| F17 | At N.C. State | 27 | 1 | Loss |
| F21 | At Syracuse | 76 | 1 | Win |
| F23 | Louisville | 14 | 1 | Win |
| F28 | Virginia Tech | 50 | 2 | |
| M3 | Clemson | 38 | 2 | |
| M7 | At Duke | 2 | 1 |
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Duke | 13–1 | 25–2 | 2 |
| No. 11 Virginia | 12–2 | 24–3 | 16 |
| Miami | 10–4 | 21–6 | 35 |
| N.C. State | 10–4 | 19–8 | 27 |
| No. 18 North Carolina | 10–5 | 22–6 | 25 |
| Clemson | 10–5 | 20–8 | 38 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 9–6 | 20–8 | 14 |
| SMU | 8–6 | 19–8 | 31 |
| Florida State | 7–7 | 14–13 | 74 |
| California | 7–7 | 19–8 | 59 |
| Virginia Tech | 7–8 | 18–10 | 50 |
| Syracuse | 6–9 | 15–13 | 76 |
| Stanford | 5–9 | 16–11 | 72 |
| Wake Forest | 5–9 | 14–13 | 65 |
| Notre Dame | 3–11 | 12–15 | 89 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–11 | 10–17 | 122 |
| Boston College | 2–12 | 9–18 | 165 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–13 | 11–17 | 171 |
* — Through Monday games
Monday’s result
No. 18 North Carolina 77, No. 24 Louisville 74
Tuesday’s games
No. 1 Duke at Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ESPN
N.C. State at No. 11 Virginia, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Wake Forest at Boston College, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Miami at Florida State, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Wednesday’s games
Pittsburgh at Stanford, 8 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at California, 10 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
No. 11 Virginia at No. 1 Duke, noon, ESPN
N.C. State at Notre Dame, noon, The CW
Florida State at Georgia Tech, noon, ACC Network
No. 24 Louisville at Clemson, 2 p.m., ESPN2
Boston College at Miami, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Pittsburgh at California, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Syracuse at Wake Forest, 5:45, The CW
SMU at Stanford, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia Tech at No. 16 North Carolina, 8:30, ESPN2
Monday’s game
No. 1 Duke at N.C. State, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, March 3, games
Clemson at No. 18 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Wake Forest at No. 11 Virginia, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Syracuse at No. 25 Louisville, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Boston College at Virginia Tech, 9 p.m., ESPNU
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 19 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. 14 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. 13 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 | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 11 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.1 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 | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. No. 24 Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 1 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
