UNC Basketball: 2019-20 Schedule Preview

The North Carolina Tar Heels have finished their “secret” scrimmage against Villanova and exhibition versus Winston-Salem State. Now, it is on to the real deal.

The introduction of the 20-game ACC schedule begins this season. As he mentioned in the ACC Media Days, head coach Roy Williams is not thrilled with the idea. However, he and the Heels will take what the conference gives them.

With the 2019-20 season opening up next Wednesday, take a look at the full slate of games below:

Preseason Top 25

With Carolina at No. 9, there are three other ACC teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25: No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Louisville, and No. 11 Virginia.

UNC plays Duke and Virginia twice while facing Louisville just once in Kentucky.

The Tar Heels have two more ranked teams on their schedule with No. 18 Ohio State and No. 8 Gonzaga. In December, the Heels host the Buckeyes in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and travel to Spokane to wrap up their home-and-home series with Gonzaga.

Non Conference Opponents

Most notably, Carolina will participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. Click the image below to view the bracket.

Carolina plays Alabama first, then either Iowa State or Michigan. On the other side of the bracket in the tournament, teams include Gonzaga, Southern Miss, Seton Hall, and Oregon. Yes, UNC and Gonzaga could play twice in the regular season.

Winter Commencement at UNC will be December 15, at 2:00 PM at the Dean E. Smith Center. UNC hosts Wofford at 4:00 PM. Will there be an expedited ceremony this year?

No, commencement exercises will continue as planned. Therefore, the Heels will play the Terriers in Carmichael Auditorium Arena in the first game for the men’s basketball team in the old barn since the 2010 NIT.

Another highlight of the non conference schedule is UNC’s participation in the CBS Sports Classic again this season. This year, Carolina plays UCLA in Las Vegas.

ACC Regular Season

Carolina hosts Notre Dame for the season opener on November 6. You read that correctly. With the expanded schedule, two games were added before the 18-game stretch. The other game will be in Charlottesville against Virginia, but the date and time have not been announced.

UNC will face six ACC opponents in home-and-homes: Duke, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia, and Wake Forest.

The rest of the league opponents will be one-time matchups, four at home and four on the road.

The Tar Heels face Boston College, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Miami in Chapel Hill. UNC will travel to Florida State, Louisville, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech.

Carolina opens will three straight home games in conference play. These teams, Pitt, Clemson, and Georgia Tech, were ranked 10, 11, and 12 in the league preseason poll. Needless to say, UNC can, and should, have a hot start to the traditional league calendar.

They should give it all they have in that game against Clemson on January 11 because they will face a week break before traveling to Pitt on the next Saturday.

Based on preseason team projections, Carolina’s schedule gets tougher as the season progresses. After traveling to Florida State on February 3 and hosting Duke on February 8, UNC will have three of four on the road against Wake Forest, Notre Dame, and Louisville. The home game in that stretch will be versus Virginia.

The last game of the regular season will be in Durham on a Saturday night. The next Tuesday, the ACC Tournament returns to the Greensboro Coliseum.

What game are you most looking forward to? What will be the toughest test for the Heels? Let us know in the comments below.