By R.L. Bynum

Coach Michael Malone finally got the full schedule for his first season as North Carolina coach, and his first ACC game that counts in the standings will be in late December.

UNC opens ACC play Dec. 30 in Chapel Hill against Cal, the first of 18 regular-season ACC games that will carry the Tar Heels through the first weekend of March.

There are eight ACC games in January, seven in February and two in March before the ACC tournament tips off March 9–13 in Greensboro.

Duke and Louisville are the only league opponents that UNC faces twice.

Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford and Virginia only visit Chapel Hill. Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest only host the Tar Heels.

The most challenging part of the ACC schedule is in a 15-day February stretch: UNC hosts Louisville on Feb. 8, visits Duke on Feb. 13, is at Wake Forest on Feb. 20, and hosts Miami on Feb. 22.

And then there’s the name missing from the list entirely. Clemson isn’t on the regular-season schedule this season, the first time that’s happened since 1950–51 (a season that predates the ACC’s existence altogether). Seventy-five years of continuity, paused for at least one winter.

The ACC’s scheduling model leans on two tiers of matchups, and the primary partners make up the permanent core. Every team in the conference has one primary partner it faces twice every season. For UNC and Duke, it is that rivalry. The others are: Boston College and Notre Dame; Clemson and Georgia Tech; California and Stanford; Florida State and Miami; Louisville and SMU; N.C. State and Wake Forest; Pitt and Syracuse; and Virginia Tech and Virginia.

These pairings tend to reflect geography, history or built-in rivalry, and they give each program a guaranteed annual opponent regardless of how the rest of the schedule shifts from year to year.

The variable partners fill in the gaps, rotating on a set cycle so that, over time, every team in the conference eventually plays every other team.

For next season, that rotation pairs UNC and Louisville. The other pairings are: Boston College with Virginia Tech; California with N.C. State; Clemson with Florida State; Duke with Virginia; Georgia Tech with SMU; Miami with Pitt; Notre Dame with Wake Forest; and Stanford with Syracuse.

Those pairings will change in the coming seasons as the rotation continues. But, for now, they round out the matchups that sit alongside each team’s fixed, primary rival on the schedule.

The rest of UNC’s season fills in around that conference schedule.

Carolina opens the preseason Oct. 9 against Southern Cal in Greensboro, then starts the regular season Nov. 2 at home against Western Carolina.

N.C. State shows up twice on the schedule, first in a non-conference game Dec. 15 at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, then again Jan. 9 in the Smith Center, giving the rivalry a rare early rematch before ACC play even reaches its midpoint.

By the time March arrives and the Tar Heels head back to Greensboro for the ACC tournament, they’ll have made the trip more than once.

The full schedule is below.

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Date	Time/ scores	Month/day	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV
		October	Exhibitions
9	W, 88–70	Friday	vs. No. 21 USC in Greensboro
18	L, 76–58	Sunday	vs. Indiana in Indianapolis
27	7:30	Tuesday	vs. Charlotte	ACCN Extra
		November	Regular season
2	7 p.m.	Monday	vs. Western Carolina	ACCN
6	7 p.m.	Friday	vs. Wofford	ACCN
10	7 p.m.	Tuesday	vs. Wyoming	ACCN
13	7 p.m.	Friday	vs. Georgia	ESPN2
20	9 p.m.	Friday	vs. Marshall	ACCN
23	7 p.m.	Monday	vs. Monmouth	ACCN
27	7 p.m.	Friday	Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte	ESPN
		December
1	7:30	Tuesday	ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 12 Arkansas	ESPN
6	3 p.m.	Sunday	vs. Butler	ESPN2
12	Noon	Saturday	at Georgetown	Peacock
15	7 p.m.	Tuesday	Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro	ESPN2
19	2:30	Saturday	CBS Sports Classic vs. No. 23 Kentucky in New York	CBS
21	8 p.m.	Monday	vs. The Citadel	The CW
30	4 p.m.	Wednesday	vs. California	ACCN
		January
2	4 p.m.	Saturday	at Boston College	ESPN or ESPN2
5	9 p.m.	Tuesday	at No. 11 Louisville	ESPN or ESPNU
9	Noon	Saturday	vs. N.C. State	ESPN2
13	7 p.m.	Wednesday	at Florida State	ESPN2 or ESPNU
16	2:15	Saturday	vs. Stanford	The CW
19	9 p.m.	Tuesday	vs. No. 9 Virginia	ESPN
23	Noon	Saturday	at Syracuse	ESPN or 2 or U
26	7 p.m.	Tuesday	vs. SMU	ESPN or ESPN2
30	6 or 6:30	Saturday	Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 3 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn.	ESPN
		February
2	7 p.m.	Tuesday	at Notre Dame	ESPN or ESPN2
6	2:15	Saturday	vs. Georgia Tech	The CW
8	6 p.m.	Monday	vs. No. 11 Louisville	ESPN
13	5:30	Saturday	at No. 2 Duke	ABC
20	7 p.m.	Saturday	at Wake Forest	ACCN
22	7 p.m.	Monday	vs. No. 14 Miami	ESPN
27	7 p.m.	Saturday	at Virginia Tech	ESPN
		March
2	9 p.m.	Tuesday	at Pittsburgh	ESPN or ESPN2
6	6 or 6:30	Saturday	vs. No. 2 Duke	ESPN
9–13		Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament in Greensboro

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
25	Freshman	Maxi Adams	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	Alex Samodurov (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.

Former players at other schools

Player	Class	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