Lucas: Non-Conference Schedule Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. This is a nonconference schedule loaded with highlights. The first comes early, as Carolina will travel to Allen Field House for the second time ever when the Heels visit Kansas on Nov. 8. Credit to Hubert Davis for requesting that game be scheduled—he suggested it to sport administrator Clint Gwaltney, who cold-called the Jayhawks. In a very short amount of time, the two historic programs had a home-and-home series on the books (Kansas will come to the Smith Center next season).

2. Big scheduling break to get the ACC-SEC Challenge game at home this year. In a more traditional rotation, the Tar Heels would have been on the road in that event this season after hosting Tennessee last year. But programs have learned it's grueling to visit a far-flung Thanksgiving tournament destination, come back home, and then get back on the road for a game early the next week. So the Heels will be at home after returning from Maui.

3. And that's fortunate, because their opponent in the ACC-SEC Challenge is Alabama, a game that is the non-conference highlight of the Smith Center schedule. The Tar Heels, of course, were eliminated by the Crimson Tide last year in the Sweet 16 and played four overtimes in Portland the season before. Both squads are loaded and should again be top-10 teams.

4. As you would expect in an era when many nonconference matchups are arranged by and for television, this is a very fan-friendly schedule. Before Christmas, you will have already had the opportunity to see the Heels at Kansas, in the Maui Invitational, at home against Alabama, in an NBA arena for the Jumpman Invitational against Florida, and in Madison Square Garden against UCLA. Any one or two of those would have traditionally been the highlight of the nonconference slate; this year, the Tar Heels will pack all of them into a month and a half.

5. If you could only see one of the three in person, which would you pick: at Kansas, Maui Invitational (four teams in ESPN's preliminary top 11 squads for 2024-25), or Madison Square Garden on the weekend before Christmas? There's an argument to be made for any of them.

6. Go ahead and plan now for the most unexpectedly hot ticket on the schedule to be the Campbell game on Dec. 29 in Chapel Hill. Any time the Tar Heels host a home game between Christmas and New Year's, you can expect it to be a highly sought after ticket for families who have kids that need an activity while school is out and relatives in town. The Campbell game will absolutely be a sellout. Last season's Charleston Southern game on Dec. 29 was a very hot ticket.

7 .Quick thoughts: it will be good to see a familiar face on Nov. 15. Jackie Manuel is on the staff at American…This is not a schedule built for a team to breeze through the nonconference games. ESPN's most recent preseason top-25 indicated three teams are in the "first tier"—Kansas, Alabama and UConn. Carolina will definitely play two of them and could face all three...Expect the ACC schedule later this summer. Last year, the league slate was released on Sept. 26...Keep in mind there are a couple open slots on the non-league schedule where the ACC might place a game.

Related Videos