NC State moves ahead of #14 UNC in NCAA’s Official NET Rankings (and every other data-based ranking)

NC State has now moved into the Top-25 of the NCAA’s Official NET Ranking.

The addition of Tuesday’s Quad 1A win over SMU is the reason for the jump, and it puts the Pack in a great spot for those hoping to see them recieve an at-large bid in March.

Now, let’s get to the headline.

The NET is the ranking that accumulates all of those Quad 1 and Quad 2 records we’ve been reporting on, and it’s become a metric that weighs heavily on the Tournament committee come March.

This metric isn’t really opinion-based. It’s record-based. In fact, it was created to assure fans that bias or opinion doesn’t seep into the ranking process. But the AP and the coaches polls still exist, and when you click on an article or see the ranking next to a team name on TV, that’s what you see.

So despite the fact that the NET exists, public opinion is still swayed heavily by the AP Poll (that stands for ‘Associated Press’, aka journalists) and the coaches’ poll (which relies on votes taken from active coaches, who are busier than anyone else, focusing on their team).

And we all know the narrative here. The media loves Carolina. They need to keep them hyped up, especially during Rivalry Week, when ESPN spends an entire week building up to the big UNC vs. Duke game, whose storyline drives all sorts of revenue for the struggling media giant.

But Carolian fans will tell you it’s all in your head. There is no bias.

Cool. Then explain how UNC, ranked #14 by journalists, #18 by coaches, is actually ranked #27 according to the actual NCAA data.

Meanwhile, NC State is nowhere to be found in either of those polls, but sitting fine and dandy at #25 in the NET.

And it’s not just the NET. It’s every single trusted advanced metric site out there.

KEN POM: NC State ranks #23. UNC ranks #30.

EVAN MIYA: NC State ranks #22. UNC ranks #28.

BART TORVIK: NC State ranks #24. UNC ranks #28.

So do with all that what you will, but it just adds to the nauseating reality we live with here on Tobacco Road.

We can settle a lot of this on Feb. 17th when State and UNC meet, but until then, we’ll just keep sharing the stats.