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UNC Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for the Tar Heels

By Trevor Marks

GLENDALE, AZ - APRIL 03: The North Carolina Tar Heels mascot performs against 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. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - APRIL 03: The North Carolina Tar Heels mascot performs against 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. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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GLENDALE, AZ – APRIL 03: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels takes the court before the game against 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. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ – APRIL 03: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels takes the court before the game against 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. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Non-conference Schedule

Nov. 8 — at UNCW
Nov. 15 — vs. Gardner-Webb
Nov. 20 — vs. Elon (Battle4Atlantis)
Nov. 27 — Alabama (Battle4Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas)
Nov. 28 — Iowa State or Michigan (Battle4Atlantis)
Nov. 29 — TBA (Battle4Atlantis)
Dec. 4 — vs. No. 18 Ohio State (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
Dec. 15 — vs. Wofford
Dec. 18 — at No. 8 Gonzaga
Dec. 21 — UCLA (CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas, NV)
Dec. 30 — vs. Yale

With the new 20-game ACC slate coming into effect this season, the Tar Heels’ non-conference schedule is slightly compressed, but this year still manages to pack a punch.
Following the season-opener against Notre Dame (an early ACC matchup!) on Wednesday, UNC will get a nice three-game tune-up against a rebuilding UNCW team that’s lost 44 games over the last two years, a tournament team in Gardner-Webb that lost two of its top players to graduation, and an Elon team that UNC demolished by 49 points last year.

Battle 4 Atlantis will ship the Heels out to the Bahamas to play an up-and-coming Alabama team led by Kira Lewis Jr. and John Petty. Up next will be one of Iowa State and Michigan, a pair of teams that will give the Heels a tough fight. And if UNC manages to advance again to the final round of the invitational, they’ll have one of No. 15 Oregon, No. 12 Seton Hall, or No. 8 Gonzaga (or even Southern Miss … but probably not). Quite a gauntlet.

Resumés will be built in November, but December brings its own string of tough opponents. The four-game stretch between December 4 and 18 will have the Heels face off against No. 18 Ohio State, then No. 11 Virginia (another early ACC matchup!), Wofford, and an away game against No. 8 Gonzaga.

A couple games against UCLA and the reigning Ivy League champion Yale Bulldogs will end the month before the season segues into conference play, two matchups that the Heels shouldn’t sweat too terribly much, but there’s no certainty with this nonconference slate:

UNC can’t take it lightly.

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