By R.L. Bynum

The ACC has approved reducing the men’s basketball conference schedule from 20 to 18 games, but the schedule will work differently from the 18-game format used last season in women’s basketball.

UNC and N.C. State could play only once in the regular season for the first time in 106 seasons.

Under the women’s schedule, teams only faced one opponent home and home (for North Carolina, it was Duke) and played every other ACC opponent once. That meant that UNC and N.C. State only played once during the regular season.

Each men’s team will play two opponents home and home. One for UNC will always be Duke, but the other will be “variable” for the Tar Heels, and that opponent for next season won’t be known until the ACC schedule is released. That will mean there will be one league team that UNC won’t face each season.

The logical second home-and-home opponent is N.C. State, but the ACC’s release suggests that this will only sometimes be the case. UNC and State have played twice in every regular season since 1920. They only played once in 1913 and 1919.

The move has been widely viewed as a way to help the league get more NCAA tournament berths after only four teams made the field last season. The ACC went to the 20-game schedule for the 2019–20 season. In March, the Big 12 reduced its conference schedule from 20 games to 18.

“Moving to an 18-game conference schedule is a direct result of our ongoing strategic review and analysis and provides our schools a better balance of non-conference and conference games, while also allowing them more autonomy in the scheduling process,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said. “This decision reflects our ongoing prioritization to do what’s best for ACC men’s basketball, and we appreciate the thoughtfulness of our membership and the support from our television partners.”

The ACC office collaborated with athletics directors, coaches, external consultants and television partners and worked with multiple experts to conduct statistical analysis to examine the conference’s basketball product, metrics and scheduling.

The first league games are expected to be scheduled for late December.

The other primary partners are: Boston College-Notre Dame, Clemson-Georgia Tech, California-Stanford, Florida State-Miami, Louisville-SMU, N.C. State-Wake Forest, Pittsburgh-Syracuse and Virginia Tech-Virginia.

The shift means that Carolina and every other ACC men’s team will schedule 13 nonconference games. Ten of the 13 opponents are already known (see schedule below).

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
25	Freshman	Maximo Adams (MAX-ih-mo)	F	6–7	220
30	Freshman	Malloy Smith	G	6–5	180
21	Freshman	Sayon Keita (SIGH-on KAY-tuh)	C	7–0	205
5	Freshman	Kevin Thomas	W	6–6	205
35	Sophomore	Cade Bennerman — U	C	7–0	205
17	Sophomore	Neo Avdalas — W (NEE-oh ahv-DOLL-lus)	G	6–9	220
2	Sophomore	Isaiah Denis	G	6–4	185
3	Sophomore	Matt Able — X	G	6–5	200
22	Junior	Alexandros Samodurov (Alex-ANN-drose SAH-muh-DUHR-off)	C	6–11	225
1	Senior	Terrence Brown — Y	G	6–3	180
4	Senior	Jaydon Young (JAY-din)	G	6–4	200
15	Senior	Jarin Stevenson (JARE-in)	F	6–10	220
14	Graduate	Angelo Brizzi — Z (BRIZZ-ee)	G	6–3	200
54	Graduate	Cameron Fens — V (Fenz)	C	7–0	255
		Walk-ons
99	Junior	John Holbrook — SA	F	6–8	230
32	Senior	Evan Smith	G	6–1	200

V — South Dakota transfer; U — Northwestern transfer; W — Virginia Tech transfer; X — N.C. State transfer; Y — Utah transfer; Z — Buffalo transfer; SA — Holbrook is a designated student-athlete, so he doesn’t count against UNC’s 15-player limit.

Coach Michael Malone’s coaching staff — Associate head coach Chuck Martin; assistant coaches Bryan Tibaldi (tih-BALL-dee), Sean May, Jorge Sanz (HOR-hey sahnth), Pat Sullivan and Brandon Robinson; Director of player development Deon Thompson.

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Players who entered transfer portal

Player	Class next season	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt	Next school
Luka Bogavac	Senior	W	6–6	215	Oklahoma State
James Brown	Senior	C	6–10	240	Howard
Derek Dixon	Sophomore	G	6–5	200	Arizona
Kyan Evans	Senior	G	6–2	175	Minnesota
Zayden High	Junior	C	6–10	230	South Florida
Jonathan Powell	Junior	G	6–6	190	Pittsburgh
Ivan Matlekovic	Junior	C	7–0	255	Pacific

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UNC schedule

Date	Month/day	Opponent/event (final ranks)
	October	Exhibitions
9	7 p.m. Friday	vs. USC in Greensboro
18	5 p.m. Sunday	vs. Indiana in Indianapolis
27	Tuesday	vs. Charlotte
	November	Regular season
2	Monday	vs. Western Carolina
6	Friday	vs. Wofford
10	Tuesday	vs. Wyoming
13	Friday	vs. Georgia
20	Friday	vs. Marshall
23	Monday	vs. Monmouth
27	Friday	Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte
	December
1	Tuesday	ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas
6	Sunday	vs. Butler
12	Saturday afternoon	at Georgetown
15	7 p.m. Tuesday	Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro
19	2:30 Saturday, CBS	CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York
21	Monday	vs. The Citadel
30	Wednesday	vs. California
	January
2	Saturday	at Boston College
5	7 p.m. Tuesday	at Louisville
9	Saturday	vs. N.C. State
13	Wednesday	at Florida State
16	Saturday	vs. Stanford
19	Tuesday	vs. No. 17 Virginia
23	Saturday	at Syracuse
26	Tuesday	vs. SMU
30	Saturday	Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn.
	February
2	Tuesday	at Notre Dame
6	Saturday	vs. Georgia Tech
8	Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN	vs. Louisville
13	Saturday	at No. 4 Duke
20	Saturday	at Wake Forest
22	Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN	vs. No. 24 Miami
27	Saturday	at Virginia Tech
	March
2	Tuesday	at Pittsburgh
6	Saturday	vs. No. 4 Duke
9–13	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament in Greensboro

Photo courtesy of the ACC