By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina’s first season under Coach Michael Malone will feature a familiar anchor and a fresh twist, with no game against Clemson.
The ACC announced Thursday the matchups for the league’s 18-game men’s basketball schedule for the 2026–27 league season, which begins in late December and runs through the first Saturday of March. Under the conference’s scheduling format, each team plays one primary partner twice, home and away, and one variable partner twice, home and away. The remaining 14 games are single meetings, home or away, against 14 of the other 15 league teams.
For UNC, the primary partner remains Duke. The variable partner for next season is Louisville, giving the Tar Heels two games against the Cardinals.
It will be the first time since the 1950–51 season that UNC hasn’t played Clemson and the first time since 1947 that the Tar Heels haven’t played at N.C. State. That game was canceled minutes before the game because the fire marshal said that there were too many fans in the gym.
The rest of the conference schedule mixes traditional trips and a home-heavy sampling of the league’s newer additions, including both California and Stanford coming to Chapel Hill.
Beyond the two home-and-home series, in addition to Cal and Stanford, the Tar Heels will only play at home against Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU and Virginia. After not playing Boston College last season, they play the Eagles on the road, in addition to road games at Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, creating a nine-and-nine split between home and away ACC games when the Duke and Louisville return meetings are included.
The overall layout gives Malone a first ACC tour that touches nearly every corner of the league. There is a trip to Chestnut Hill, Mass., to face Boston College, a visit to South Bend for Notre Dame, and a swing through the league’s northern tier with games at Pitt and Syracuse. The in-state portion remains sizable, too, with Carolina playing Duke twice, hosting N.C. State and traveling to Wake Forest.
Carolina will not face Clemson during the regular season, the byproduct of the format that has each team skip one opponent annually among the 18-member league.
The conference’s partner list again ties rivals and regional pairings together as the foundation of the schedule. Other pairings are Boston College-Notre Dame, Clemson-Georgia Tech, California-Stanford, Florida State-Miami, Louisville-SMU, N.C. State-Wake Forest, Pitt-Syracuse and Virginia Tech-Virginia.
Other variable partners are Duke-Virginia, California-N.C. State, Clemson-Florida State, Georgia Tech-SMU, Miami-Pitt, Notre Dame-Wake Forest, Boston College-Virginia Tech and Stanford-Syracuse.
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Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and the seven players who entered the transfer portal return, which would put UNC two under the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 3 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 star | Freshman | Sayon Keita | C | 7–0 | 215 |
| 4 star | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–7 | 190 |
| RS freshman | Cade Bennerman — W | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — X | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — Y | G | 6–5 | 196 | |
| Senior | Terrence Brown — Z | G | 6–3 | 174 | |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
W — Northwestern transfer. X — Virginia Tech transfer; Y — N.C. State transfer; Z — Utah transfer
Michael Malone’s coaching staff: Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May and Pat Sullivan; Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.
Players who left for the 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 |
Key offseason dates
June 13 — Deadline for international players to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 23–24 — NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn
Schedule so far
(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski or Rocco Miller)
(11 of 14 games)
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia at the Dick Vitale Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center
Dec. 1 or 2 — vs. SEC team in ACC/SEC Challenge (announced last year on June 12)
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler
ACC games
Home and away: Duke, Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford, Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Photo by Smith Hardy
