By R.L. Bynum
No. 17 North Carolina inched up one spot in the NET rankings to 24 after its 67–63 victory Tuesday at the Smith Center over Clemson and still is projected by most to be a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament.
UNC (24–6, 12–5 ACC) earned its fourth Quad 2 victory, with all six of its losses in Quad 1 games and six Quad 1 victories. Carolina gets one more regular-season chance at a Quad 1 win at 6:30 Saturday in the regular-season finale at No. 1 Duke (28–2, 16–1), which is first in the NET rankings.
Carolina’s WAB (wins above bubble) rank stayed at 17th.
The NCAA tournament committee uses the NET rankings and WAB as two of its metrics to determine who makes the field and how to seed teams. NET rankings and WAB 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 4–0): Home 31–75, neutral 51–100, road 76–135
Quadrant 3 (UNC is 9–0): Home 76–160, neutral 101–200, road 135–240
Quadrant 4 (UNC is 5–0): Home 161 or lower, neutral 201 or lower, road 241 or lower
UNC can earn a double-bye in the ACC tournament and the No. 4 seed if No. 22 Miami (23–6, 12–4) wins Wednesday at SMU (7 p.m., ACC Network) or Saturday at home against Louisville.
The consensus of 132 projections made before the Clemson game and listed on Bracket Matrix has the Tar Heels as the third-highest No. 5 seed.
Here’s a sampling of bracket projections (made Tuesday unless otherwise indicated):
—Patrick Stevens on oviesandgiglio.com and Jerry Palm (Wednesday): No. 5 seed in South Region (Houston), early-round games in Tampa, Fla.
—Andy Katz: No. 5 in South, early-round games in Greenville, S.C.
—Bleacher Report: No. 5 seed in Midwest, early-round games in Philadelphia
—Joe Lunardi of ESPN: No. 6 seed in Midwest Region (Chicago), early-round games in Oklahoma City, although his Tuesday evening tweet suggests he’s bumped UNC up to a No. 5 seed.
—CBS Sports (Wednesday): No. 6 seed in South
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UNC’s NCAA résumé
NET ranking: 24
WAB (wins above bubble) rank: 17 (5.12)
High NET: 13 (2 days)
Low NET: 30 (4 days)
Average opponent NET: 97
Average NET win: 112
Average NET loss: 40
NET strength of schedule: 48
KenPom: 27
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI): 31
Bart Torvik T-Rank: 24
UNC quad schedule breakdown
(Through Tuesday games)
| Date | Opponent | NET ranking | Current quad designation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N3 | Central Arkansas | 164 | 4 | Win |
| N7 | Kansas | 18 | 1 | Win |
| N11 | Radford | 250 | 4 | Win |
| N14 | N.C. Central | 339 | 4 | Win |
| N18 | Navy | 126 | 4 | Win |
| N25 | (N) St. Bonaventure | 152 | 3 | Win |
| N27 | (N) Michigan State | 11 | 1 | Loss |
| D2 | At Kentucky | 27 | 1 | Win |
| D7 | Georgetown | 95 | 3 | Win |
| D13 | USC Upstate | 293 | 4 | Win |
| D16 | ETSU | 127 | 3 | Win |
| D20 | (N) Ohio State | 34 | 1 | Win |
| D22 | East Carolina | 260 | 4 | Win |
| D30 | Florida State | 77 | 3 | Win |
| J3 | At SMU | 37 | 1 | Loss |
| J10 | Wake Forest | 67 | 2 | Win |
| J14 | At Stanford | 65 | 1 | Loss |
| J17 | At California | 64 | 1 | Loss |
| J21 | Notre Dame | 89 | 3 | Win |
| J24 | At Virginia | 13 | 1 | Win |
| J31 | At Georgia Tech | 171 | 3 | Win |
| F2 | Syracuse | 80 | 3 | Win |
| F7 | Duke | 1 | 1 | Win |
| F10 | At Miami | 31 | 1 | Loss |
| F14 | Pittsburgh | 109 | 3 | Win |
| F17 | At N.C. State | 30 | 1 | Loss |
| F21 | At Syracuse | 80 | 1 | Win |
| F23 | Louisville | 15 | 1 | Win |
| F28 | Virginia Tech | 55 | 2 | Win |
| M3 | Clemson | 35 | 2 | Win |
| M7 | At Duke | 1 | 1 |
| Team | League | Overall | NET* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Duke | 16–1 | 28–2 | 1 | 1 |
| No. 13 Virginia | 14–3 | 26–4 | 13 | 11 |
| No. 22 Miami | 12–4 | 23–6 | 31 | 28 |
| No. 17 North Carolina | 12–5 | 24–6 | 24 | 17 |
| Clemson | 11–6 | 21–9 | 35 | 31 |
| Louisville | 10–7 | 21–9 | 15 | 23 |
| N.C. State | 10–7 | 19–11 | 30 | 42 |
| California | 8–8 | 20–9 | 64 | 50 |
| SMU | 8–8 | 19–10 | 37 | 44 |
| Florida State | 8–8 | 15–14 | 77 | 73 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–9 | 19–11 | 55 | 49 |
| Stanford | 7–9 | 18–11 | 65 | 61 |
| Syracuse | 6–11 | 15–15 | 80 | 77 |
| Wake Forest | 6–11 | 15–15 | 67 | 78 |
| Notre Dame | 4–12 | 13–16 | 89 | 92 |
| Pittsburgh | 4–12 | 11–18 | 109 | 133 |
| Boston College | 3–14 | 10–20 | 162 | 218 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–14 | 11–18 | 169 | 178 |
* — Through Tuesday games
Monday’s result
No. 1 Duke 93, N.C. State 64
Tuesday’s results
No. 17 North Carolina 67, Clemson 63
No. 13 Virginia 75, Wake Forest 70
Louisville 77, Syracuse 62
Virginia Tech 72, Boston College 63
Wednesday’s games
Miami at SMU, 7 p.m., ACC Network
California at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Florida State at Pittsburgh, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Stanford at Notre Dame, 9 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday’s games
Virginia Tech at No. 13 Virginia, noon, The CW
Notre Dame at Boston College, noon, ESPNU
Georgia Tech at Clemson, noon, ACC Network
Louisville at No. 22 Miami, 2 p.m., ESPN
SMU at Florida State, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Stanford at N.C. State, 2:15, The CW
California at Wake Forest, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Pittsburgh at Syracuse, 4:30, The CW
No. 17 North Carolina at No. 1 Duke, 6:30, ESPN
END OF REGULAR SEASON
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. 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. 8 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. 13 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 No. 22 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. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 1 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
