By R.L. Bynum

The reported UNC men’s basketball matchup with reigning national champion UConn became official on Monday.

The Tar Heels and Huskies will play on Dec. 5 at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Men’s Classic, with Florida Atlantic meeting Illinois in the other matchup. ESPN will televise both games, but start times haven’t been announced.

“It’s a great opportunity to play the defending national champions and return to Madison Square Garden, a special place that has meant a lot to me,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Carolina fans were amazing when we played in the Garden last year against Ohio State, so we know the atmosphere will be something special. It’s also a blessing and honor to play in this year’s Jimmy V Classic as Coach [Jim] Valvano is being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. It should be a great night to celebrate Coach Valvano and college basketball.”

Davis has said he wants his teams to play often in the New York City area. Last season, the Tar Heels beat Ohio State 89–84 in overtime in Madison Square Garden as part of the CBS Sports Classic.

Carolina is 30–11 in Madison Square Garden and 44–25 all-time in New York City. Senior R.J. Davis (White Plains, N.Y.) and graduate Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan (New York City) are from the area.

This is Carolina’s third Jimmy V Classic appearance. UNC beat Massachusetts 83–69 on Dec. 20, 1996, and lost to Indiana 82–73 on Dec. 21, 1999. Both of those games were played in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

This will be the first matchup between UNC and UConn since Feb. 13, 2005, a 77–70 victory for the No. 2 Tar Heels against the No. 19 Huskies at the Hartford Civic Center behind 16 points, 10 assists and five steals from Raymond Felton. Jawad Williams led the scoring with 17 points, with Sean May collecting 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Heels, of course, went on to win the NCAA title that season.

The Huskies’ only win in six meetings came 86–54 at Storrs, Conn., on Jan. 19, 2002, the only time they’ve met with both teams unranked.

No. 1 UNC beat No. 6 UConn 75–64 in the 1998 NCAA East Regional final at the Greensboro Coliseum to earn a Final Four berth. Antawn Jamison had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels.

The programs have won a combined 11 national titles.

The field boasts three teams that have made Final Four runs in the past two NCAA tournaments, including reigning NCAA champion UConn, North Carolina (2022 NCAA championship game), and Florida Atlantic (2023 Final Four).

The Huskies are making their fifth appearance in the Jimmy V Classic.

Three of the event’s teams made ESPN’s ‘Way-Too-Early Top 25’ rankings, with Connecticut (No. 5) and Florida Atlantic (No. 9) in the Top 10 and North Carolina at No. 15.

The Fighting Illini, who played in the inaugural Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in 2003, have participated in the last three NCAA tournaments under coach Brad Underwood.

UNC vs. UConn

Carolina leads series 5–1
Dec. 6, 1990, at Smith Center in ACC/Big East Challenge (Coach Dean Smith) — No. 10 UNC 79, No. 14 UConn 64
March 21, 1998, at the Greensboro Coliseum in the NCAA tournament (Coach Bill Guthridge) — No. 1 UNC 75, No. 6 UConn 64
Jan. 19, 2002, at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn. (Coach Matt Doherty) — UConn 86, UNC 54
Jan. 18, 2003, at Smith Center (Doherty) — UNC 68, No. 6 UConn 64
Jan. 17, 2004, at Smith Center (Coach Roy Williams) — No. 9 UNC 86, No. 1 UConn 83
Feb. 13, 2005, at Hartford Civic Center (Williams) — No. 2 UNC 77, No. 19 UConn 70

Date	Month/day	Score	Opponent/event (current ranks)	Record
	October
27	Friday	W, 117–53	vs. St. Augustine’s	Exhibition
	November
6	Monday	W, 86–70	vs. Radford	1–0
12	Sunday	W, 90–68	vs. Lehigh	2–0
17	Friday	W, 77–52	vs. UC Riverside	3–0
			Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas
22	Wednesday	W, 91–69	Northern Iowa	4–0
23	Thursday	L, 83–81, OT	Villanova	4–1
24	Friday	W, 87–72	Arkansas	5–1
			ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
29	Wednesday	W, 100–92	vs. No. 6 Tennessee	6–1
	December
2	Saturday	W, 78–70	vs. Florida State	7–1, 1–0 ACC
			Jimmy V Classic in New York
5	Tuesday	L, 87–67	No. `1` Connecticut	7–2
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
16	Saturday	L, 87–83	No. 12 Kentucky	7–3
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
20	Wednesday	W, 81–69	Oklahoma	8–3
			—————————
29	Friday	W, 105–60	vs. Charleston Southern	9–3
	January
2	Tuesday	W, 70–57	at Pittsburgh	10–3, 2–0 ACC
6	Saturday	W, 65–55	at Clemson	11–3, 3–0 ACC
10	Wednesday	W, 67–54	at N.C. State	12–3, 4–0 ACC
13	Saturday	W, 103–67	vs. Syracuse	13–3, 5–0 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 86–70	vs. Louisville	14–3, 6–0 ACC
20	Saturday	W, 76–66	vs. Boston College	15–3, 7–0 ACC
22	Monday	W, 85–64	vs. Wake Forest	16–3, 8–0 ACC
27	Saturday	W, 75–68	at Florida State	17–3, 9–0 ACC
30	Tuesday	L, 74–73	at Georgia Tech	17–4, 9–1 ACC
	February
3	Saturday	W, 93–84	vs. No. 13 Duke	18–4, 10–1 ACC
6	Tuesday	L, 80–76	vs. Clemson	18–5, 10–2 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–72	at Miami	19–5, 11–2 ACC
13	Tuesday	L, 86–79	at Syracuse	19–6, 11–3 ACC
17	Saturday	W, 96–81	vs. Virginia Tech	20–6, 12–3 ACC
24	Saturday	W, 54–44	at Virginia	21–6, 13–3 ACC
26	Monday	W, 75–71	vs. Miami	22–6, 14–3 ACC
	March
2	Saturday	W, 79–70	vs. N.C. State	23–6, 15–3 ACC
5	Tuesday	W, 84–51	vs. Notre Dame	24–6, 16–3 ACC
9	Saturday	W, 84–79	at No. 13 Duke	25–6, 17–3 ACC
			ACC tournament Washington
14	Thursday	W, 92–67	Quarterfinals: Florida State	26–6
15	Friday	W, 72–65	Semifinals: Pittsburgh	27–6
16	Saturday	L, 84–76	Final: N.C. State	27–7
			NCAA tournament
21	Thursday	W, 90–62	First round in Charlotte: Wagner	28–7
23	Saturday	W, 85–69	Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State	29–7
28	Thursday	L, 89–87	Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama	29–8

Key events, dates

Saturday at 11:59 p.m. ET — Deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
Wednesday — Transfer portal closes
May 11–12 — NBA G League Elite Camp in Chicago
May 12–19 — NBA Combine in Chicago
May 17–19 — Evaluation for high school players at NCAA-certified events (EYBL in Indianapolis is one of those)

UNC schedule so far

Nov. 8 — at Kansas (final AP rank No. 20; final NET ranking No. 19)
Nov. 22 — at Hawaii (final NET ranking No. 172)
Nov. 25–27 — Maui Invitational — Auburn (final AP rank No. 18; final NET ranking No. 5), Colorado (unranked; No. 25), Connecticut (No. 1; No. 2), Dayton (No. 24; No. 23), Iowa State (No. 8; No. 6), Memphis (unranked; No. 75), Michigan State (unranked; No. 24)
Dec. 14 — vs. La Salle (final NET ranking No. 195)
Likely in late November — Opponent TBA in ACC/SEC Challenge
December — vs. UCLA (final NET ranking No. 107) in CBS Sports Classic (date, location TBA)
December — vs. Florida (final NET ranking No. 29) in Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center (date TBA)
— Games home and away against Duke, N.C. State and Pittsburgh
— Home games vs. Boston College, California, Georgia Tech, Miami, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
— Road games vs. Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
Note: 2024 NCAA tournament teams are in bold.

Potential 2024-25 UNC roster

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
—	Freshman	James Brown (4 star)	5	6–8	225
—	Freshman	Ian Jackson (5 star)	2	6–4	180
—	Freshman	Drake Powell (5 star)	2	6–5	185
2	Soph.	Elliot Cadeau	PG	6–1	180
1	Soph.	Zayden High	4	6–9	225
13	Junior	Jalen Washington	5	6–10	230
0	Junior	Seth Trimble	2	6–3	195
5	Graduate	RJ Davis	PG	6–0	180
		Eligible for fifth season
24	Graduate	Jae’Lyn Withers	4	6–9	215
		Walk-ons eligible for 5th season
14	Graduate	Creighton Lebo	PG	6–1	180
22	Graduate	Rob Landry	2	6–4	190