By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina will face several challenging tests before the Tar Heels open their regular-season ACC title defense against Georgia Tech on Dec. 7.
The ACC released the league’s men’s basketball schedules Tuesday night, and UNC is spared from road trips to new league members while all three — SMU (Jan. 7), Cal (Jan. 15) and Stanford (Jan. 28) — will play at the Smith Center. It will be the first visit for SMU and the second visit for Cal and Stanford.
Carolina (29–8 last season) plays a Blue-White scrimmage in Cherokee at noon on Oct. 13, as well as exhibitions at Memphis at 7 p.m. ET on Oct. 15 and vs. Johnson C. Smith at 2 p.m. on Oct. 27. It opens the season on Nov. 4 at home against Elon before that first big challenge comes on Nov. 8 at Kansas.
By the time the Tar Heels face Georgia Tech, they will have faced three tough games at the Maui Invitational (including a potential matchup with two-time reigning NCAA champion UConn) and a home game against Alabama on Dec. 4.
The regular-season schedule ends with senior night at 6:30 p.m. on March 8 against Duke, one of three league opponents Carolina will play at home and on the road, along with N.C. State and Pittsburgh. The first Duke game is at 6:30 on Feb. 1 in Durham.
Carolina plays three weekday 9 p.m. games.
UNC plays all ACC games after the New Year, starting with a game at Louisville on Jan. 1. After the SMU home game at 9 p.m. Jan. 7, UNC visits N.C. State at 4 p.m. on Jan. 11, before its home games against Cal and Stanford.
The Tar Heels finish January playing at Wake Forest at 9 p.m. Jan. 21, at home against Boston College at 2:15 Jan. 25 and at Pittsburgh at 9 p.m. Jan. 28.
The game at Duke starts the February schedule, followed by a home game against Pittsburgh on Feb. 8, and road games Feb. 10 at Clemson and Feb. 15 at Syracuse. UNC then has two straight home games, Feb. 19 against N.C. State and Feb. 22 against Virginia before finishing the month with a Feb. 24 game at Florida State.
In March, UNC faces Miami at home on March 1, at Virginia Tech on March 4 before the March 8 game against Duke.
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 10 | Sunday | Noon | Blue-White in Cherokee | |
| 15 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Memphis (exhibition) | ESPNU |
| 27 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Johnson C. Smith (exhibition) | ESPN3 |
| November | ||||
| 4 | Monday | 9 p.m. | vs. Elon | ACCN |
| 8 | Friday | TBA | at Kansas | TBA |
| 15 | Friday | 8 p.m. | vs. American | ACCN |
| 22 | Friday | TBA | at Hawaii | TBA |
| Maui Invitational | ||||
| 25 | Monday | 11:30 p.m. | Dayton | ESPN2 |
| 26 | Tuesday | 8:30 or 11 | Auburn or Iowa State | ESPN or ESPNU |
| 27 | Wednesday | 2:30, 5 p.m., 9:30 or midnight | Memphis, UConn, Colorado or Michigan State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Wednesday | 7:15 | vs. Alabama | ESPN |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 14 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. LaSalle | The CW |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | Florida | ESPN |
| CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden | ||||
| 21 | Saturday | 3 p.m. | UCLA | CBS |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Sunday | 8 p.m. | vs. Campbell | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | TBA | at Louisville | ACCN |
| 7 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 11 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at N.C. State | ACCN |
| 15 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Cal | ACCN |
| 18 | Saturday | 2:15 | vs. Stanford | The CW |
| 21 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | at Wake Forest | ESPN |
| 25 | Saturday | 2:15 p.m. | vs. Boston College | The W |
| 28 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | 6:30 p.m. | at Duke | ESPN |
| 8 | Saturday | TBA | vs. Pittsburgh | TBA |
| 10 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Clemson | ESPN |
| 15 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ESPN |
| 19 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 22 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Virginia | ESPN |
| 24 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Florida State | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | TBA | vs. Miami | ES{M |
| 4 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ESPN2 or ESPNU |
| 8 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. Duke | ESPN |
| 11-15 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament Spectum Center, Charlotte |
In addition to the three new ACC members, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Virginia will be other league teams playing at the Smith Center.
Conference teams the Tar Heels will only face on the road are Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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