UNC and NC State will keep their rivalry on the court at least a little longer, and now there’s real money attached to it.
The two schools announced in June that they would meet in Greensboro in each of the next two seasons in non-conference play. This year’s game, billed as the inaugural Tobacco Road Classic, is set for December 15 at the First Horizon Coliseum.
The contract makes the arrangement even more notable: each school is set to receive a $1 million payout for this year’s game, and both programs will get another $1 million when they meet again in non-conference play during the 2027-2028 season.
That kind of number makes the logic pretty simple. The ACC’s new scheduling setup has taken some of the rhythm out of this rivalry, even though these are two programs that have long been expected to see each other regularly. Before last season, you had to go all the way back to 1919 to find the last time UNC and NC State didn’t meet twice in a regular season on the hardwood.
Last year’s result only made the absence of a second meeting sting more for UNC fans, who would have liked another shot at the Wolfpack at the Dean Smith Center. There was also obvious interest in seeing Ven-Allen Lubin back in Chapel Hill.
For both schools, though, this deal is hard to argue with. They get a major financial boost, the rivalry stays alive, and the game comes without the burden of a long trip. That’s a rare combination, especially for a non-conference matchup.
Normally, North Carolina has to pay schools to come to the Dean Smith Center for non-conference games. This time, UNC gets to benefit financially instead, while still keeping the kind of in-state showdown fans expect.
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