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Road Blowout Significantly Boosts UNC Basketball NET Ranking

Originally posted on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI
By Matt Giles | Last updated Mar 5, 2025 8:10 AM ET

Hubert Davis and his fourth UNC basketball team returned to Chapel Hill on Tuesday night with an impressive 91-59 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies (13-17, 8-11 ACC) in tow. The Tar Heels (20-11, 13-6 ACC), steadily ascending the March Madness bubble of late, have now won six in a row.

Unfortunately for Carolina, all of those victories came against opponents with losing ACC records in this season's subpar conference. So, even though the past five victories are by double-digit margins, the streak hasn't exactly worked wonders for UNC's NET position.

However, the Tar Heels did jump five spots to No. 38 overall in the latest update to the NCAA NET Rankings on Wednesday morning.

In doing so, UNC basketball moved to No. 4 among ACC squads. The Tar Heels leapfrogged SMU, as the Mustangs slid five notches to No. 46 overall despite grinding out a 77-75 home victory over Syracuse on Tuesday night.

The NET, a key metric for the NCAA Tournament selection committee, currently lists three other ACC teams inside its top 50: Louisville at No. 25, Clemson at No. 21, and Duke at No. 1 (up from No. 2 in light of Auburn's Tuesday night loss at Texas A&M).

UNC hosts the archrival Blue Devils (27-3, 8-1 ACC) at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN), the regular season finale for both programs.

This article first appeared on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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