UNC Basketball Jumps Several Spots in NET Rankings

The UNC basketball blowout victory over NC State boosted the Tar Heels' NCAA Tournament stock a bit.

UNC basketball | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

After picking up a 97-73 dominant home win over the NC State Wolfpack (10-16, 3-12 ACC) on Wednesday night, Hubert Davis' fourth UNC basketball team climbed five notches to No. 45 overall in the NCAA NET Rankings on Thursday morning.

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The NCAA NET Rankings are a metric used to evaluate squads for NCAA Tournament invites and seeding.

Four ACC programs currently sit above the Tar Heels (16-11, 9-6 ACC) in the NET: No. 2 Duke (23-3, 15-1 ACC), No. 25 Clemson (21-5, 13-2 ACC), No. 27 Louisville (20-6, 13-2 ACC), and No. 38 SMU (20-6, 11-4 ACC).

UNC basketball, still among the "First Four Out" in bracket projections courtesy of ESPN's Joe Lunardi, has won three of its past four outings and recorded back-to-back victories, marking the Tar Heels' first winning streak since the first half of January.

Davis and his bunch are now gearing up to host the Virginia Cavaliers (13-13, 6-9 ACC) at 4 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN2).

ALSO READ: Slight Change to Upcoming UNC TV Schedule

Stay tuned to North Carolina Tar Heels On SI for more on the 2024-25 UNC basketball squad and other Tar Heel news.