UNC gets ideal start with ACC schedule, but three Saturday-Monday turnarounds aren't

Heels will have a chance for new faces to jell at home early

North Carolina will ease into its ACC basketball schedule with four of five conference games in Chapel Hill, but the Tar Heels will be road-warriors in February in March, playing six of their final 10 games away from home, including four at the league’s farthest outposts.

Analyzing the Tar Heels’ 2019-20 ACC schedule:

Ideal start

Carolina has plenty of talent on the roster and will likely begin the season as a top-10 team, but there are still questions to work out as the Tar Heels welcome three impact freshmen, two graduate transfers and have several players moving into new roles.

They’ll have an opportunity to figure things out at home against teams that aren’t expected to compete for the league title, welcoming Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh and Clemson to Chapel Hill among their first five ACC matchups.

The lone ACC road game in that stretch, at Virginia, comes on Dec. 6 or 7 and the Cavaliers are one of the few teams that lost more than Carolina, with Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome and DeAndre Hunter all moving on to the NBA after winning the national title.

Case of the Mondays

Roy Williams will certainly have some thoughts on Carolina’s Saturday/Monday turnarounds, because not only did the Tar Heels get three, they’ll be on the road for each of them.

The first isn’t so bad, with Carolina playing host to Miami on Jan. 25 before traveling to Raleigh on Jan. 25 to meet N.C. State, but the others require flights, with Boston College in Chapel Hill on Feb. 1 before a trip to Florida State, then playing host to Virginia on Feb. 15 before going to Notre Dame on Feb. 17.

Time and again, we’ve seen teams play poorly on the second leg of the two-game, three-day stretch and it seemed there would be fewer across the league with the launch of the ACC Network.

Saturdays are for the contenders

Early on, Saturdays won’t be particularly exciting for the Tar Heels, but as the season unfolds, its likely Carolina’s matchups will be candidates for primetime slots, playing Duke twice, playing host to Virginia and traveling to Louisville and Syracuse.

The first Carolina-Duke game of the season always has extra juice, and traditionally, that’s been on a Wednesday evening. Things only figure to be more intense with the first meeting moving to Saturday, as the Blue Devils travel to Chapel Hill on Feb. 8 with College Gameday almost certainly in town.

Toughest stretch

These things certainly change as the season develops and a surprise team emerges, but there’s no stretch on the schedule that truly looks unmanageable.

The toughest likely starts with the first Duke game, followed by a trip to Wake Forest on Feb. 11 that could be a trap, as the Deacons will be much improved on the perimeter. Then, Virginia visits the Smith Center before back-to-back trips to Notre Dame and Louisville before finishing the run against State on Feb. 25.

Compare and contrast

Coaches absolutely won’t love opening with an ACC matchup then playing another in early December, but both will offer a clear reference point for Williams later in the season, as Carolina meets both Notre Dame and Virginia again later in the season.

The Tar Heels and Irish will be completely different teams with 103 days between meetings, and while Virginia doesn’t depart from its identity, Tony Bennett will have his team tightened up in the 70 days between matchups.

Carolina's ACC Schedule

Nov. 6 Notre Dame (ACCN)
Dec. 6 or 7 at Virginia (ACCN)
Jan 4. Georgia Tech (ACCN)
Jan. 8 Pittsburgh (ACCN)
Jan. 11 Clemson
Jan. 18 at Pittsburgh (ESPN Networks)
Jan. 22 at Virginia Tech (ACCN)
Jan. 25 Miami (ESPN Networks)
Jan. 27 at N.C. State (ESPN)
Feb. 1 Boston College (ACCN)
Feb. 3 at Florida State (ESPN)
Feb. 8 Duke (ESPN)
Feb. 11 at Wake Forest (ACCN
Feb. 17 at Notre Dame (ESPN)
Feb. 22 at Louisville (ESPN Networks)
Feb. 25 N.C. State (ESPN Networks)
Feb. 29 at Syracuse (ESPN Networks)
March 3 Wake Forest (ESPN Networks)
March 7 at Duke (ESPN)
March 10-14 ACC Tournament (Greensboro)