University of North Carolina Athletics
Loaded Schedule, High Expectations Await
April 7, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
By Adam Lucas
The best thing about the official end of the 2014-15 season is that it's finally acceptable to look ahead to the 2015-16 season. Within minutes of last night's national championship game, a variety of outlets had already released their best early guesses at a preseason top 25. Here are four:
ESPN (Carolina #3)
NBC (Carolina #1)
SB Nation (Carolina #1)
CBS (Carolina #2)
Sporting News (Carolina #4)
With the likelihood that everyone who played a minute in the season finale against Wisconsin will be back, plus the continued development of players like Justin Jackson and Joel Berry II, plus senior leadership from Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson, expectations will be high for the Tar Heels next year.
But there's another factor that plays a role in a team's regular season success: the schedule. The ACC has already announced the schedule rotation for the 2015-16 season. You can find Carolina's opponents here. Based on the above projections, a few thoughts on that league schedule:
The league is missing out on a Carolina-Virginia home-and-home. The Tar Heels have only one game against the Cavs next season, and it will be in Charlottesville. Considering how highly the two teams are likely to be ranked, it could harken back to the Worthy vs. Sampson games of the early 1980s.
Home and homes against Duke and NC State, as per usual, will be tough. Both the other Triangle squads appear somewhere in the top 15 of most polls.
The Tar Heels also caught a tough scheduling break by facing Louisville only once, and that game coming on the road. The three editions of the UNC-Louisville game this season were some of the best games in the league; it's unfortunate there will be only one scheduled renewal next year. The road game at Florida State, also the only meeting of the year between those two teams, will be tough. There's also a visit to Notre Dame, which means that according to the very early projections, four of Carolina's five road-only opponents could be ranked.
The nonconference schedule isn't out yet. But a few games are known. Carolina will play UCLA in Brooklyn on Dec. 19. The Bruins are a top 20 team in several of those polls. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge pairings will be fascinating. It seems logical to assume either Carolina or Duke is going to draw Maryland, a projected top-5 squad. The other, perhaps, could get Michigan State, which is in the top 10 of several rankings, or perhaps Indiana or Michigan, both of which are slated to travel this year in the event.
Just taking into account the games that are already known for certain, the Tar Heels will have seven games against the top 20 teams in the ESPN projection, with only three of those matchups at the Smith Center.
More information on the 2015-16 schedule will be released by the Atlantic Coast Conference later this spring.
