The North Carolina men’s basketball team certainly will not be lacking quality competition this season in its quest to return to the mecca of basketball glory—the Final Four.
On Thursday morning, the team released its full 2018-2019 schedule, a gauntlet that includes 14 opponents that made the NCAA Tournament last year. The formidable slate of games is nothing new for UNC — last season the team boasted the toughest schedule in the nation, according to KenPom.com and Go Heels.
However, there is one date that is sure to ruffle the feathers of students — a March 9 contest against Duke. The Saturday game is also UNC's senior night, and the second day of the university's spring break, meaning many students will not be in town for the annual affair.
The Tar Heels begin the regular season on Nov. 6 with a date against Wofford in Spartanburg, S.C. Last season, the Terriers tamed North Carolina, 79-75, at the Smith Center, handing head coach Roy Williams perhaps his most shocking loss at the helm of the program.
UNC plays its first regular season contest on the newly-dedicated Roy Williams Court on Nov. 12, when former assistant Jerod Haase brings his Stanford squad to Chapel Hill.
On Nov. 16, the Tar Heels play host to Tennessee Tech to kick off the Las Vegas Invitational. Three days later, the team takes on St. Francis (Pa.) in Chapel Hill before heading to Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Day for a matchup with Texas. The winner of that game will face the victor of Michigan State and UCLA one day later on Nov. 23, while the losing teams also battle it out that same day.
The schedule does not get any easier from there, as the Tar Heels head to Ann Arbor, Mich. on Nov. 28 for a 9 p.m. tip off against Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Last season, Luke Maye led the way in a Tar Heel blowout with 27 points and six rebounds, but the Wolverines got the last laugh with a run to the national championship game.
Perhaps the most intriguing game of the season is on Dec. 15, when Mark Few and Gonzaga travel to Chapel Hill for a rematch of the 2017 National Championship. The Bulldogs boast a formidable lineup, including Rui Hachimura, who was a West Coast Conference first-team selection in 2017-2018.
UNC plays three more non-conference opponents, including Kentucky on Dec. 22 in the CBS Sports Classic, before beginning a tough ACC slate. The meeting with the Wildcats in Chicago is the first between the two teams since the 2017 Elite Eight, a contest won by Luke Maye’s buzzer-beating jump shot.
