Tar Heels Play First Two ACC Games on the Road for Third Time in Five Years
For the third time in the last five seasons, the ACC schedulers have seen fit to send UNC on the road to play its first two conference games. In addition to this year, the Tar Heels had to do the same in 2016-17 and 2018-19. Although Roy Williams’ teams have fared well on the road in ACC play throughout his tenure, starting out the conference schedule by playing away from home twice is not an enviable position.
The only other time in the 2000s the Tar Heels played their first two conference matchups away from the Smith Center was in 2002-03.
By way of contrast, Duke has played their first two ACC games on the road just twice in the same time period (2003-04 and 2015-16).
Or take Virginia as another example. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, have only one season in the 2000s during which they started off the conference schedule with back-to-back road games (2008-09).
Why have the Tar Heels been sent on the road so much at the start of conference play while other perennial ACC favorites have not? Good question. And unfortunately, I don’t have a good answer for you. This appears to just be an overlooked scheduling quirk; hopefully one that will be rectified going forward.
How has Carolina fared in these four seasons with their first two ACC games on the road? Another good question. This one thankfully has an answer.
In 2002-03 (the last season of Matt Doherty’s tenure), Carolina opened up ACC play on the road at Florida State and Virginia. The Tar Heels beat the Seminoles (69-48), but lost to the Cavaliers (72-79). They finished the season with a 6-10 ACC record and in seventh place in the conference. UNC went to the NIT that year and lost to Georgetown in the third round (74-79).
The more recent seasons during which Carolina started off ACC play with back-to-back road games have finished with better success. To be fair, they were both better teams than the 2002-03 Tar Heels.
In 2016-17, UNC lost at Georgia Tech (63-75) and then beat Clemson (89-86). The Tar Heels then went 13-3 throughout the rest of the conference schedule to finish with a 14-4 ACC record, good enough for first place. Carolina finished that season as the National Champions, outlasting Gonzaga 71-65.
The most recent season Carolina played twice on the road to start ACC play was 2018-19. That was the only one of these seasons in which the Tar Heels won both games – 85-60 at Pittsburgh and 90-82 at NC State. In fact, UNC only lost twice in conference and finished with a 16-2 ACC record and tied with Virginia for first place. Carolina ultimately lost to Auburn in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament (80-97).
As for this year, last Tuesday Carolina went to Raleigh to take on NC State. The Tar Heels came away with just the fifth loss in 37 games against the Wolfpack in the Roy Williams era (76-79).
Tomorrow (Wednesday), UNC heads to Atlanta to face off against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets have the same 0-1 conference record as the Tar Heels, having lost at Florida State (74-61). Overall, Josh Pastner’s team is 4-3, with wins over Kentucky, Nebraska, Florida A&M, and Delaware State. Their three losses have been to Georgia State, Mercer, and the aforementioned Florida State.
The Tar Heels will look to avoid starting off conference play 0-2 for the first time since 2013-14. That UNC team actually lost their first three, and four of the first five, before reeling off a 12-game winning streak and ultimately finishing 13-5 in ACC play.
Tune in at 8:00pm ET on Wednesday to see if the 2020-21 Tar Heels can get their first ACC win of the season.
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