University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Carmichael Comments: ACC Schedule Release
September 23, 2021 | Women's Basketball
The remaining puzzle pieces of the journey to March for the 2021-22 North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball team are finally in place. Carolina's 18-game ACC slate was announced last week, joining the 11 non-league tilts to form the full season docket that tips off on Nov. 9.
For starters, the 18 conference games marks a return to normal for Carolina and the rest of the ACC, as the conference played 20 league games in the 2020-21 season in light of the pandemic. Well, we should say attempted to play 20 league games – Carolina ended up with 17, and an unbalanced 17 at that, with no games against Boston College, Duke, or Virginia, and three matchups with Virginia Tech, plus two with faraway teams such as Miami and Syracuse. So, returning to in-season home-and-homes with Duke, NC State, Virginia and Virginia Tech, plus single games against the other 10 league foes, is a welcome sign.
Diving a little deeper into the schedule, here's what caught my eye…
Chance For a Fast Start
The schedule makers did Carolina a favor in the early portion of the ACC schedule. The Tar Heels will open the league slate prior to Christmas on Sunday, Dec. 19 at Boston College, a reality of a world where playing 18 games – plus taking a bye – all between Christmas and the first week of March is unrealistic. Boston College went 2-11 in the ACC last season, last among teams who did not opt out of the season early. The Eagles will return a sizable chunk of players from that team, and will be determined to climb up the ACC standings, while the Tar Heels are looking to avenge losses in the past two trips to Chestnut Hill.
After Christmas, Carolina plays a pair of home games on Thursday, Dec. 30 against Syracuse and Sunday, Jan. 2 against Clemson. That week will mark the only Thursday/Sunday pairing of the entire season in which the Tar Heels will play both games at home, so it's a great chance for fans visiting from out of town over the holidays to come see a game in Carmichael. Syracuse has endured an offseason of turmoil, losing 11 players to the transfer portal and seeing the resignation of longtime head coach Quentin Hillsman. The Orange will begin the season in flux, so it remains to be seen where this year's team will be when they visit Carmichael Arena on the penultimate day of 2021. Remember, the Tar Heels smashed Syracuse 92-68 last December at home as well. Clemson's visit will see the Tigers in search of their first win at Carmichael since 2012, and just their second win overall in the series in the last 11 games.
Bottom line: a 3-0 ACC start by the early days of 2022 would set the Tar Heels up nicely heading into the challenges ahead.
Measuring Stick Week
With or without a 3-0 start, the first full week of January will tell us where the Tar Heels stand among ACC competitors. Following the two home games, Carolina will make the short trip to Raleigh on Jan. 6 to play NC State for the first of two meetings on the season. Expect a sellout crowd in Reynolds Coliseum for a nationally-televised 8:00 p.m. tipoff between the two longtime rivals. Lest we forget, Carolina has beaten a top 10-ranked NC State team in the first game of the year between the two teams for three consecutive seasons, including a 76-69 win in Chapel Hill last year with NC State ranked no. 4, and a memorable win in Raleigh in 2019 when NC State was undefeated. Can the streak extend to four years?
Then, Carolina and Virginia Tech will get together for the first of two meetings on the year on Sunday, Jan. 9, a 6:00 p.m. tipoff in Carmichael. A 14-point comeback in Blacksburg on the final day of the 2020-21 regular season helped the Tar Heels avoid a three-game season sweep at the hands of the Hokies, and now Carolina will play for just its second home win over Virginia Tech in five meetings. Win one if not both of those games, and the Tar Heels will entrench themselves in the ACC race.
Early bye leads to Sunday road tests
The bye for the Tar Heels occurs early, on Thursday, Jan. 13. That means 13 consecutive games to end the regular season, but coming off of two physical games against the Wolfpack and Hokies will be a great time for a rest. The two middle Sundays in January will feature a pair of flights for tough road games – Jan. 16 at Notre Dame (1:00 p.m.) and Jan. 23 at Georgia Tech (12:00 p.m.). Notre Dame failed to make the NCAA Tournament in year one under Niele Ivey last year, and would have been on the outside looking in had a 2020 edition of the Dance been played. Even with the Irish trying to regain their footing among the sport's elite, their floor is a tough place to play, and Carolina is 0-4 at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in the ACC era.
Seven days later, the Tar Heels will play for a fifth straight win in the series against Georgia Tech, a team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 this past March. Head coach Nell Fortner returns standouts Lorela Cubaj and Kierra Fletcher for an extra year, and the Yellow Jackets will certainly remember an 84-59 pasting that Carolina issued them on Senior Night at Carmichael Arena this year. This will be a tough one in Atlanta, where Carolina fan support is always solid.
In between the two games, Virginia will visit Carmichael Arena on Jan. 20. The Cavaliers have not won in Chapel Hill since 2001, a 12-game win streak for Carolina at home against their northern neighbors.
Rivalries Abound
One of the most special aspects of being a Tar Heel is participating in rivalry games against the other three ACC teams in the state – Duke, NC State, and Wake Forest. Any time Carolina takes the court against a fellow "Big Four" school, history and passion seems to ooze through the arena. This season, though, the schedule provides Carolina players, coaches, and fans with a special treat: for the first time since 2018, the Tar Heels will play all three rivals in three consecutive games.
On Thursday, Jan. 27, Carolina will make the shortest road trip in all of major college athletics to play Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the first meeting between the two schools since Mar. 1, 2020. Duke opted out of the season last year on Christmas Day, ending their campaign after just four games, and none against Carolina. Second-year Duke head coach Kara Lawson has rebuilt her roster through the transfer portal, so this matchup should have plenty of hype – both for the return of the rivalry and for ACC consequences in 2022. Just a few days later on Sunday, Jan. 30, the Tar Heels and NC State will renew acquaintances for the second time on the season. We mentioned a bit earlier the success Carolina has had against NC State in the first meeting of the year recently, but the Wolfpack have won all the "revenge games" in that three-year span. In fact, Carolina's last win over NC State in the second game of the year between the two teams was in 2015. A national TV audience on a TBD ESPN network and a Sunday afternoon tip time is sure to raise the energy in Carmichael Arena. What better time to change that trend for the Tar Heels?
Then, on Thursday, Feb. 3, Carolina will head to Winston-Salem for the sixth matchup in two calendar years with Wake Forest. Though the Tar Heels have controlled this rivalry through the years, the Demon Deacons have ousted Carolina from the ACC Tournament in consecutive seasons. Having the opportunity to go win a road game at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and gain some revenge for those exits in Greensboro is enticing.
No Double Road Weeks
Following the Wake Forest game, Carolina returns home on Sunday, Feb. 6 to meet Miami, and will be home again on Thursday, Feb. 10 against Pittsburgh before heading to Blacksburg, Va. on Sunday, Feb. 13 to play Virginia Tech. You may notice a trend here. In the ACC's Thursday/Sunday scheduling system, teams play two games per week. Among the eight weeks in which the Tar Heels play on both Thursday and Sunday in conference play, Carolina will have at least one home game in each of those eight weeks. The Tar Heels will never be tasked with having to play two road games in a week of games, something we saw Carolina have to deal with twice in 2019-20. In fact, Carolina will only have two occasions of a Sunday road game followed by a Thursday road game in conference play. The biggest reason why this is possible is having both the pre-Christmas ACC game (at Boston College) and the game after the Thursday bye (at Notre Dame) both on the road, something the Tar Heels will certainly take to avoid a tougher road grind in February.
Ending Gauntlet
The Virginia Tech game on Feb. 13 begins a three-game stretch that will serve as the second measuring-stick time for Carolina's season. As discussed above, the Hokies are a program on the rise, and Cassell Coliseum is a difficult place to play. Following the trip to the Virginia mountains, though, the ensuing Thursday/Sunday pairing is one of the toughest possible for any ACC team – a home game with Louisville on Thursday, Feb. 17, and a road trip to Florida State on Sunday, Feb. 20. The Cardinals will come to Carmichael having not lost to Carolina since the 2008 NCAA Tournament, and again boast a roster loaded with talent that will have eyes on a deep run in March Madness. Three days later, another team Carolina is trying to get over the hump against awaits in FSU, who made their eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament this past season. The Tar Heels have not beaten the Seminoles since 2015, and have not won in Florida's capital city since 2014.
Survive those two games, and two rematches await to close the regular season with a trip to Virginia on Thursday, Feb. 24 (one of those two Sunday/Thursday double road game stretches), and the home game with Duke on Sunday, Feb. 27. Coasting into March will not be an option.
The season is coming, and any way you look at it, this journey will be fun.
That's all for now! Go Heels!
-Matt
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For starters, the 18 conference games marks a return to normal for Carolina and the rest of the ACC, as the conference played 20 league games in the 2020-21 season in light of the pandemic. Well, we should say attempted to play 20 league games – Carolina ended up with 17, and an unbalanced 17 at that, with no games against Boston College, Duke, or Virginia, and three matchups with Virginia Tech, plus two with faraway teams such as Miami and Syracuse. So, returning to in-season home-and-homes with Duke, NC State, Virginia and Virginia Tech, plus single games against the other 10 league foes, is a welcome sign.
Diving a little deeper into the schedule, here's what caught my eye…
Chance For a Fast Start
The schedule makers did Carolina a favor in the early portion of the ACC schedule. The Tar Heels will open the league slate prior to Christmas on Sunday, Dec. 19 at Boston College, a reality of a world where playing 18 games – plus taking a bye – all between Christmas and the first week of March is unrealistic. Boston College went 2-11 in the ACC last season, last among teams who did not opt out of the season early. The Eagles will return a sizable chunk of players from that team, and will be determined to climb up the ACC standings, while the Tar Heels are looking to avenge losses in the past two trips to Chestnut Hill.
After Christmas, Carolina plays a pair of home games on Thursday, Dec. 30 against Syracuse and Sunday, Jan. 2 against Clemson. That week will mark the only Thursday/Sunday pairing of the entire season in which the Tar Heels will play both games at home, so it's a great chance for fans visiting from out of town over the holidays to come see a game in Carmichael. Syracuse has endured an offseason of turmoil, losing 11 players to the transfer portal and seeing the resignation of longtime head coach Quentin Hillsman. The Orange will begin the season in flux, so it remains to be seen where this year's team will be when they visit Carmichael Arena on the penultimate day of 2021. Remember, the Tar Heels smashed Syracuse 92-68 last December at home as well. Clemson's visit will see the Tigers in search of their first win at Carmichael since 2012, and just their second win overall in the series in the last 11 games.
Bottom line: a 3-0 ACC start by the early days of 2022 would set the Tar Heels up nicely heading into the challenges ahead.
Measuring Stick Week
With or without a 3-0 start, the first full week of January will tell us where the Tar Heels stand among ACC competitors. Following the two home games, Carolina will make the short trip to Raleigh on Jan. 6 to play NC State for the first of two meetings on the season. Expect a sellout crowd in Reynolds Coliseum for a nationally-televised 8:00 p.m. tipoff between the two longtime rivals. Lest we forget, Carolina has beaten a top 10-ranked NC State team in the first game of the year between the two teams for three consecutive seasons, including a 76-69 win in Chapel Hill last year with NC State ranked no. 4, and a memorable win in Raleigh in 2019 when NC State was undefeated. Can the streak extend to four years?
Then, Carolina and Virginia Tech will get together for the first of two meetings on the year on Sunday, Jan. 9, a 6:00 p.m. tipoff in Carmichael. A 14-point comeback in Blacksburg on the final day of the 2020-21 regular season helped the Tar Heels avoid a three-game season sweep at the hands of the Hokies, and now Carolina will play for just its second home win over Virginia Tech in five meetings. Win one if not both of those games, and the Tar Heels will entrench themselves in the ACC race.
Early bye leads to Sunday road tests
The bye for the Tar Heels occurs early, on Thursday, Jan. 13. That means 13 consecutive games to end the regular season, but coming off of two physical games against the Wolfpack and Hokies will be a great time for a rest. The two middle Sundays in January will feature a pair of flights for tough road games – Jan. 16 at Notre Dame (1:00 p.m.) and Jan. 23 at Georgia Tech (12:00 p.m.). Notre Dame failed to make the NCAA Tournament in year one under Niele Ivey last year, and would have been on the outside looking in had a 2020 edition of the Dance been played. Even with the Irish trying to regain their footing among the sport's elite, their floor is a tough place to play, and Carolina is 0-4 at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in the ACC era.
Seven days later, the Tar Heels will play for a fifth straight win in the series against Georgia Tech, a team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 this past March. Head coach Nell Fortner returns standouts Lorela Cubaj and Kierra Fletcher for an extra year, and the Yellow Jackets will certainly remember an 84-59 pasting that Carolina issued them on Senior Night at Carmichael Arena this year. This will be a tough one in Atlanta, where Carolina fan support is always solid.
In between the two games, Virginia will visit Carmichael Arena on Jan. 20. The Cavaliers have not won in Chapel Hill since 2001, a 12-game win streak for Carolina at home against their northern neighbors.
Rivalries Abound
One of the most special aspects of being a Tar Heel is participating in rivalry games against the other three ACC teams in the state – Duke, NC State, and Wake Forest. Any time Carolina takes the court against a fellow "Big Four" school, history and passion seems to ooze through the arena. This season, though, the schedule provides Carolina players, coaches, and fans with a special treat: for the first time since 2018, the Tar Heels will play all three rivals in three consecutive games.
On Thursday, Jan. 27, Carolina will make the shortest road trip in all of major college athletics to play Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the first meeting between the two schools since Mar. 1, 2020. Duke opted out of the season last year on Christmas Day, ending their campaign after just four games, and none against Carolina. Second-year Duke head coach Kara Lawson has rebuilt her roster through the transfer portal, so this matchup should have plenty of hype – both for the return of the rivalry and for ACC consequences in 2022. Just a few days later on Sunday, Jan. 30, the Tar Heels and NC State will renew acquaintances for the second time on the season. We mentioned a bit earlier the success Carolina has had against NC State in the first meeting of the year recently, but the Wolfpack have won all the "revenge games" in that three-year span. In fact, Carolina's last win over NC State in the second game of the year between the two teams was in 2015. A national TV audience on a TBD ESPN network and a Sunday afternoon tip time is sure to raise the energy in Carmichael Arena. What better time to change that trend for the Tar Heels?
Then, on Thursday, Feb. 3, Carolina will head to Winston-Salem for the sixth matchup in two calendar years with Wake Forest. Though the Tar Heels have controlled this rivalry through the years, the Demon Deacons have ousted Carolina from the ACC Tournament in consecutive seasons. Having the opportunity to go win a road game at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and gain some revenge for those exits in Greensboro is enticing.
No Double Road Weeks
Following the Wake Forest game, Carolina returns home on Sunday, Feb. 6 to meet Miami, and will be home again on Thursday, Feb. 10 against Pittsburgh before heading to Blacksburg, Va. on Sunday, Feb. 13 to play Virginia Tech. You may notice a trend here. In the ACC's Thursday/Sunday scheduling system, teams play two games per week. Among the eight weeks in which the Tar Heels play on both Thursday and Sunday in conference play, Carolina will have at least one home game in each of those eight weeks. The Tar Heels will never be tasked with having to play two road games in a week of games, something we saw Carolina have to deal with twice in 2019-20. In fact, Carolina will only have two occasions of a Sunday road game followed by a Thursday road game in conference play. The biggest reason why this is possible is having both the pre-Christmas ACC game (at Boston College) and the game after the Thursday bye (at Notre Dame) both on the road, something the Tar Heels will certainly take to avoid a tougher road grind in February.
Ending Gauntlet
The Virginia Tech game on Feb. 13 begins a three-game stretch that will serve as the second measuring-stick time for Carolina's season. As discussed above, the Hokies are a program on the rise, and Cassell Coliseum is a difficult place to play. Following the trip to the Virginia mountains, though, the ensuing Thursday/Sunday pairing is one of the toughest possible for any ACC team – a home game with Louisville on Thursday, Feb. 17, and a road trip to Florida State on Sunday, Feb. 20. The Cardinals will come to Carmichael having not lost to Carolina since the 2008 NCAA Tournament, and again boast a roster loaded with talent that will have eyes on a deep run in March Madness. Three days later, another team Carolina is trying to get over the hump against awaits in FSU, who made their eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament this past season. The Tar Heels have not beaten the Seminoles since 2015, and have not won in Florida's capital city since 2014.
Survive those two games, and two rematches await to close the regular season with a trip to Virginia on Thursday, Feb. 24 (one of those two Sunday/Thursday double road game stretches), and the home game with Duke on Sunday, Feb. 27. Coasting into March will not be an option.
The season is coming, and any way you look at it, this journey will be fun.
That's all for now! Go Heels!
-Matt
Â
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