The ACC basketball schedule was released yesterday, and we now know what Carolina’s 2026-27 conference slate will look like. The good news is there are some parts of the schedule that are much easier than last season, but the bad news is that their home-and-home opponent not named Duke is a brutal one.
Let’s take a look at what UNC’s ACC schedule looks like:
Home Games:
Cal
Georgia Tech
Miami
NC State
SMU
Stanford
Virginia
Away Games: Boston College Florida State Notre Dame Pitt Syracuse Virginia Tech
Wake Forest
Home and Away Games:
Duke
Louisville
The first huge win for Michael Malone’s squad is that the Tar Heels do not have to travel to the West Coast. During Hubert Davis’ final season, the Heels had to travel to SMU, Cal, and Stanford, and lost all three games. UNC will face each team at home this time around, so there shouldn’t be such a daunting obstacle to overcome in their quest to win the ACC title.
Another game of note on the schedule is facing NC State just one time, but this time in the Dean Smith Center. While there is deep hatred between these two schools, both sides of the fence have been pretty frustrated that these teams don’t play twice a season anymore. This likely isn’t changing anytime soon, but looking at this from an advantage perspective, it will be nice to take on the Wolfpack at home instead of having to travel to Raleigh again.
Finally, let’s talk about the elephant in the room — UNC will have to face a stacked Louisville team twice, which while it’s way too early to say for sure, it’s safe to assume that this will be a Quad 1 situation at home and away. The Cardinals dropped loads of money in the transfer portal this offseason, and currently have the #1 transfer portal class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Having to face both Louisville and Duke twice is brutal, but then again, the Tar Heels should be able to compete well enough to not get swept against both teams. Whether or not they actually avoid getting swept is another story, because until we actually see Michael Malone in action, predicting how everything will go isn’t easy.
Overall, this is a pretty favorable schedule for UNC, but it isn’t without its challenges. Their road opponents are all teams that didn’t do too hot this previous season, but the Heels will play just about every projected ACC contender in the Dean Dome. This is truly best-case scenario for what is essentially a brand new team, but they’ll still have to put in the work if they want to earn a double-bye in the ACC Tournament, and perhaps even win the ACC regular season title.
What do you think of UNC’s 2026-27 ACC schedule? Let us know in the comments below.
