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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Maggie Hobson
Rapid Reactions: MBB Nonconference Schedule
August 9, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
The Tar Heels will again face a formidable slate before ACC play begins.
By Adam Lucas
1. The 2023-24 nonconference schedule essentially has two phases. First, the quasi-preseason, as the Tar Heels have an exhibition against St. Augustine's on Oct. 27, then a series of three regular season home games against Radford, Lehigh and UC Riverside. The Lehigh game, coming on Sunday, Nov. 12—the day after a home football game against Duke—should be the one of this trifecta with the most buzz. This is the piece of the schedule when Hubert Davis should be able to do some shuffling and find out which of his extensive roster of new faces are best together.
2. Then it's time for the made-for-TV portion of the nonconference schedule, with Carolina departing for the Bahamas, hosting Tennessee in the brand new ACC-SEC Challenge, and playing three straight neutral site marquee games.
Of that piece of the schedule, there's a good chance that at least five of the seven opponents will be top-15 teams, with a reasonable chance that two of them—Tennessee and UConn—will be top-10 foes.
3. Hubert Davis was serious about wanting to get the Tar Heels back into Madison Square Garden. As soon as he was hired, Davis started mentioning the magic of the Garden, and he was proven correct when it hosted one of last year's most enjoyable games and electric crowds—the last-second win over Ohio State. The Tar Heels will go back to MSG on Dec. 5 to play defending national champion Connecticut.
In the 15 seasons prior to last year, Carolina played three regular season games at Madison Square Garden (and the most recent one had been way back in December of 2010). Now they will have played two in the past two years. Davis is making good on his promise, and the huge Tar Heel turnout last year in New York makes it appear he was correct.
4. Of course, that's also part of the reality of modern day college basketball: most of the biggest nonconference games are played away from campus sites. Of the seven biggest nonconference games on this year's schedule, only one—the home game against Tennessee on Nov. 29—will be played in a school's primary home arena.
That's another reason why it was so refreshing to see Carolina and Kansas sign a traditional home-and-home scheduling agreement that starts next season with a game in Lawrence. That's a deal that will be good for the sport.
5. One of the most damaging parts of last season was the long trip to Portland, which featured two heartbreaking losses--including a four-OT defeat to Alabama that probably kept Carolina out of the NCAA Tournament--and then an immediate road trip to Indiana. The long travel combined with the tough opponents and bad outcomes set a tough tone for the season. It's imperative that the Heels avoid a similar stretch this season with the games in the Bahamas followed by the home game against a tough Tennessee team. The Bahamas is a much more manageable trip than Portland, and having the subsequent game at home instead of on the road is a much better arrangement.
6. Carolina's game against Kentucky in Atlanta on Dec. 16 should have a very good environment. Wildcat fans traditionally consider Atlanta a UK stronghold, but that's as compared to their SEC brethren. The Tar Heels have a very good alumni base there and normally have sizable representation in games played at Georgia Tech.
7. Keep in mind that the schedule as laid out on the nonconference schedule is not necessarily how it will appear in its final form. It's likely, even probable, that the Atlantic Coast Conference drops a couple of league games into the pre-New Year's part of the schedule. Carolina played at Virginia Tech and hosted Georgia Tech before Christmas last year.
8. And when will we get that ACC schedule? Last year it was released in September. All the league matchups and sites are available now on the schedule page. It's up to the league to plug in the dates, times and TV networks.
9. The biggest question in the modern era is how it will play with the NET. A major detriment to Carolina's NCAA Tournament credentials last year was a 2-11 record in Quad 1 games. That mark was only enhanced by the fact that very few Quad 1 opportunities presented themselves in ACC play, and when they did, the Heels often didn't take advantage. This year's schedule will again have plenty of those first tier games during the nonconference segment of the season. It's imperative that the Tar Heels collect a handful of victories so that they don't have to depend on the rest of the league to have Quad 1 credentials (and, hopefully, the rest of the league also learned from last year's NET situation while building their nonconference schedule--which will enhance the numbers for everyone else in the conference).
1. The 2023-24 nonconference schedule essentially has two phases. First, the quasi-preseason, as the Tar Heels have an exhibition against St. Augustine's on Oct. 27, then a series of three regular season home games against Radford, Lehigh and UC Riverside. The Lehigh game, coming on Sunday, Nov. 12—the day after a home football game against Duke—should be the one of this trifecta with the most buzz. This is the piece of the schedule when Hubert Davis should be able to do some shuffling and find out which of his extensive roster of new faces are best together.
2. Then it's time for the made-for-TV portion of the nonconference schedule, with Carolina departing for the Bahamas, hosting Tennessee in the brand new ACC-SEC Challenge, and playing three straight neutral site marquee games.
Of that piece of the schedule, there's a good chance that at least five of the seven opponents will be top-15 teams, with a reasonable chance that two of them—Tennessee and UConn—will be top-10 foes.
3. Hubert Davis was serious about wanting to get the Tar Heels back into Madison Square Garden. As soon as he was hired, Davis started mentioning the magic of the Garden, and he was proven correct when it hosted one of last year's most enjoyable games and electric crowds—the last-second win over Ohio State. The Tar Heels will go back to MSG on Dec. 5 to play defending national champion Connecticut.
In the 15 seasons prior to last year, Carolina played three regular season games at Madison Square Garden (and the most recent one had been way back in December of 2010). Now they will have played two in the past two years. Davis is making good on his promise, and the huge Tar Heel turnout last year in New York makes it appear he was correct.
4. Of course, that's also part of the reality of modern day college basketball: most of the biggest nonconference games are played away from campus sites. Of the seven biggest nonconference games on this year's schedule, only one—the home game against Tennessee on Nov. 29—will be played in a school's primary home arena.
That's another reason why it was so refreshing to see Carolina and Kansas sign a traditional home-and-home scheduling agreement that starts next season with a game in Lawrence. That's a deal that will be good for the sport.
5. One of the most damaging parts of last season was the long trip to Portland, which featured two heartbreaking losses--including a four-OT defeat to Alabama that probably kept Carolina out of the NCAA Tournament--and then an immediate road trip to Indiana. The long travel combined with the tough opponents and bad outcomes set a tough tone for the season. It's imperative that the Heels avoid a similar stretch this season with the games in the Bahamas followed by the home game against a tough Tennessee team. The Bahamas is a much more manageable trip than Portland, and having the subsequent game at home instead of on the road is a much better arrangement.
6. Carolina's game against Kentucky in Atlanta on Dec. 16 should have a very good environment. Wildcat fans traditionally consider Atlanta a UK stronghold, but that's as compared to their SEC brethren. The Tar Heels have a very good alumni base there and normally have sizable representation in games played at Georgia Tech.
7. Keep in mind that the schedule as laid out on the nonconference schedule is not necessarily how it will appear in its final form. It's likely, even probable, that the Atlantic Coast Conference drops a couple of league games into the pre-New Year's part of the schedule. Carolina played at Virginia Tech and hosted Georgia Tech before Christmas last year.
8. And when will we get that ACC schedule? Last year it was released in September. All the league matchups and sites are available now on the schedule page. It's up to the league to plug in the dates, times and TV networks.
9. The biggest question in the modern era is how it will play with the NET. A major detriment to Carolina's NCAA Tournament credentials last year was a 2-11 record in Quad 1 games. That mark was only enhanced by the fact that very few Quad 1 opportunities presented themselves in ACC play, and when they did, the Heels often didn't take advantage. This year's schedule will again have plenty of those first tier games during the nonconference segment of the season. It's imperative that the Tar Heels collect a handful of victories so that they don't have to depend on the rest of the league to have Quad 1 credentials (and, hopefully, the rest of the league also learned from last year's NET situation while building their nonconference schedule--which will enhance the numbers for everyone else in the conference).
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