North Carolina Basketball: 2017-18 preview of the defending champs

By Bryan Mauro | Nov 2, 2017

CHAPEL HILL, NC- APRIL 4: North Carolina Tar Heels fans react to the team arriving for their welcome-home reception for the NCAA men's basketball team on April 4, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs 71-65 yesterday to win the national championship. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images) /

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GLENDALE, AZ – APRIL 03: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels cuts down the net after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four National Championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium on April 3, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. The Tar Heels defeated the Bulldogs 71-65. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Schedule Overview

North Carolina, like most blueblood programs in the country, usually schedules a balanced non-conference schedule. The Tar Heels play in various different non-conference events and are always invited to the premier holiday tournaments. This year is no different as North Carolina is playing in the CBS Sports Classic game and the PK80 Tournament.

Ohio State is North Carolina’s opponent in the CBS Classic and while the Buckeyes are rebuilding, this game should be no trouble. In the pre-PK80 home game, the Tar Heels play Bucknell, which should be a win, but could be a very tricky game for North Carolina. Bucknell is no slouch and is one of the best mid-major programs in the country. The Tar Heels also play Portland, Arkansas/Oklahoma and one of UConn, DePaul, Michigan State, and Oregon in the PK80 tournament. The potential North Carolina against Michigan State game is going to be must-watch TV and an early season look and two of the best teams in the country if it occurs.

North Carolina has a tough matchup in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge as well. The Tar Heels drew a game with Michigan. The Wolverines are one of the teams that Coach Williams probably did not want to draw in this event. The Wolverines love to spread the floor and shoot and make tons of threes. North Carolina will have a tough time in this one and that could be an early season blemish for the Heels.

The ACC schedule is pretty standard for North Carolina and going into the year as one of the best teams in the ACC, they should navigate that schedule fairly unscathed. The two games against Duke are towards the end of the year, and both of those teams should be playing their best basketball when they play each other.

Next: 10 Predictions for Duke's 2017-18 season

Projected Finish

The Tarheels will most likely finish second in the ACC behind Duke. North Carolina will have no trouble making the NCAA tournament and will be a high seed. Making the Final Four and National Championship three seasons in a row would be amazing. The Tar Heels will be second weekend team yet again, but projecting another National Championship game appearance is hard, especially since the NCAA tournament is mostly about matchups. North Carolina also lost a ton of talent from those National Championship teams that will be difficult to replace

Roy Williams is one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball and North Carolina is one of the most tradition-rich programs in basketball. This year should be just another year of same in Chapel Hill. Roy Williams will be able to further cement his legacy with North Carolina this year.

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