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Bill Belichick has coached his share of Monday Night Football games, and his debut as the North Carolina coach will also be on Monday night. UNC’s opener at 7:30 on Sept. 1 with TCU at Kenan Stadium will be the final opener for ACC teams next season and will air on ESPN.
UNC football general manager Mike Lombardi made his weekly appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday, addressing many topics, including Coach Bill Belichick’s signing of his contract with UNC.
Bill Belichick has signed his contract to coach North Carolina, and it includes plenty of bonuses. Read the entire contract.
As impatience with Coach Hubert Davis continues to ramp up among some boosters and a segment of the North Carolina fanbase, you have to wonder if the same sort of heat would be coming if Roy Williams was leading this team. Even Davis’ most ardent supporters wouldn’t compare him as a coach to Williams, but comparing the numbers to gauge performance is fair.
The good news for North Carolina after the Tar Heels’ 67–66 loss Tuesday night at Wake Forest is that it’s become a Quad 1 game, and they’re still 38th in the latest NET rankings. Although the defeat didn’t change UNC’s NET ranking, it left the Tar Heels (12–8, 5–3 ACC) firmly in bubble territory 54 days from Selection Sunday.
WINSTON-SALEM — Carolina’s perimeter shooting was as frigid as the temperatures outside Joel Coliseum, and that has squarely put the Tar Heels on the NCAA tournament bubble. Intent on living or dying by 3-point attempts, the latter led to UNC’s second consecutive one-point loss in a game that wasn’t that close. The Tar Heels continually settled for perimeter shots that — other than a stretch of three consecutive makes in the second half — rarely fell, leading to an ugly 67–66 loss Tuesday night to Wake Forest.
Images from UNC’s 67-66 loss Tuesday night at Wake Forest.
North Carolina’s 72–71 Quad 3 loss to Stanford has the bubble talk simmering again for the Tar Heels, with one projection sending them to the First Four in Dayton. The consensus of 69 bracket projections listed on Bracket Matrix, which had UNC (12–7, 5–2 ACC; 38th in the NET rankings) as the second-highest No. 9 seed before the loss to the Cardinal, now has the Tar Heels as the highest No. 10 seed. Fourteen project them as a No. 8 seed, and seven as a No. 11 seed.
CHAPEL HILL — Instead of piling up points and assists, Kayla McPherson’s Carolina career has included periods of pain, healing and setbacks, confronting all with the determination that made her one of the country’s top high school point guards.
North Carolina moved up one spot to a season-high No. 13 in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball after two decisive road ACC victories last week. It’s Carolina’s highest rank since it was No. 11 on Jan. 30, 2023, after also winning big at Pittsburgh, 72–57.
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis spoke to the media on Monday morning at the ACC’s weekly Zoom press conference with the league’s coaches ahead of the Tar Heels’ 9 p.m. Tuesday game at Wake Forest. Here’s a look at what he said on various subjects.
For No. 14 North Carolina to reach its ceiling, the Tar Heels’ perimeter shooters will have to perform consistently. In a 75–58 victory Sunday at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Lexi Donarski and Lanie Grant combined for eight of UNC’s 13 3-pointers to shoot down the Panthers for the Tar Heels’ fourth consecutive victory.
North Carolina’s damaging 72–71 Quad 3 home loss to Stanford didn’t sink the Tar Heels in the NET rankings as much as expected, but they lost a Quad 1 opportunity.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina couldn’t find that extra gear and the level of defensive intensity that carried the Tar Heels during their four-game win streak, and they didn’t do the little things needed to extend it. The result — a 72–71 loss to Stanford on Saturday after a step-back jumper from former Duke reserve Jaylen Blakes with 1.5 seconds left — gave UNC a damaging Quad 3 loss and led to much reflection about what went wrong.
DALLAS — Four days after the agony of a historic collapse, No. 14 North Carolina only added to SMU’s misery and offensive malaise. The Mustangs, who tied the NCAA women’s Division I record by blowing a 32-point lead in a 13-point Sunday loss at Pittsburgh, collected more turnovers (21) than field goals (12) as the Tar Heels’ relentless defense claimed another victim.
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