NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 2023 inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge matchups

2. Tennessee Volunteers at North Carolina Tar Heels

Last year, UNC was making national headlines for all of the wrong reasons. They were the preseason No. 1 team and still missed the NCAA Tournament. Some pieces were shuffled but star big man Armando Bacot and point guard RJ Davis are back, joined by several transfers.

Cormac Ryan (Notre Dame) and Jae’lyn Withers (Louisville) remain in the ACC, joined by another key transfer in Harrison Ingram, a former five-star forward from Stanford. And with five-star guard Elliot Cadeau reclassed to join the team for next season, the Tar Heels are hoping for a major bounce-back campaign.

Speaking of preseason No. 1, that may be where Tennessee lands in SEC predictions. The Vols had a big offseason, adding a trio of big-time transfers, led by 20 ppg scoring guard, Dalton Knecht. Zakai Zeigler should be fully healthy after missing the last month of last season while leading scorer Santiago Vescovi is back as well. The only question of this roster is how the center position looks without Uros Plavsic but sophomore Tobe Awaka has been getting plenty of hype so far this offseason.

From an attention standpoint, both of these teams will be on everyone’s radar. More importantly, the Tar Heels and Coach Hubert Davis will start feeling the heat if they start out the non-con poorly. A home win over what should be a very good Vols would help cool the potential tensions.