College sports are back in full swing, and UNC fans have plenty to keep an eye on even with football easing into the week after its Irish trip. The Tar Heels are spread across golf courses, arenas, fields, and one very long flight to California, with several teams settling into early-season rhythm.
Men’s golf is among the first UNC teams back in action. The Tar Heels are headed to eastern Tennessee for an event hosted by Tennessee that also includes Charlotte, Chattanooga, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Liberty, Louisville, Memphis, Mississippi State, Missouri, NC State, South Carolina, Toledo, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech. The fall schedule will continue later this month before the team takes a long break and returns to competition in warmer weather later in the winter.
Volleyball stays at Carmichael Arena for another pair of matches, and both come during the week so the team can enjoy the rest of Labor Day weekend. UNC will host James Madison on Thursday, 9/3 at 7 PM on ACCNX, then Colorado State on Friday, 9/4 at 6 PM on ACCNX. The Tar Heels should be favored in both as they keep building toward a major ACC season and a couple of big matchups next week against SEC opponents.
Thursday also brings women’s soccer back to action after its trip to Dublin. Damon Nahas’ team now heads to Arizona for a pair of matches, starting with a Thursday, 9/3 visit to Arizona at 10 PM and then a Sunday, 9/6 trip to Arizona State at 1 PM. The Tar Heels are looking to bounce back from a chaotic loss to number five Michigan State, and the travel - from Ireland last Friday to Arizona this week - adds another layer of difficulty.
Field hockey opens its home slate with an unusual and challenging start at 0-2. Erin Matson’s team dropped a heartbreaker to Michigan in overtime and then fell by one to Iowa on Sunday in the ACC-B1G challenge.
Now the Tar Heels host a four-team conference crossover with Princeton, Penn, and Old Dominion. Field hockey events are free to the public and do not require a ticket.
Men’s soccer picked up its first win of the season Friday against VCU after opening 0-1-1, and now has the week off before a Sunday trip to Cal. It’s an ACC match in Berkeley, a setup that still feels strange in the current college sports landscape. After that cross-country visit, UNC will rest again before returning to Chapel Hill next week.
For fans looking to stay close to home, field hockey and volleyball are the best bets in Chapel Hill this week. With football off and several teams on the road, those are the Tar Heel events most worth circling.
In Other News...
Michael Malone Just Raised The Stakes For UNC Basketball
Michael Malones arrival in Chapel Hill has already changed the conversation around North Carolina basketball. The hiring brings an NBA rsum into a job that still lives and dies on roster building, recruiting and adapting to college players, and that blend is a big part of why some around the sport view him as maybe the top hire of this coaching cycle. There is also the obvious appeal of what North Carolina can offer a proven coach who has spent years around the professional game.
Still, the fit is not as simple as stacking Malones NBA experience against the college landscape and calling it a clean upgrade. Coaches who have watched him up close point to his track record and to the recruiting edge he could gain in Chapel Hill, but there is real skepticism in the background about how quickly a coach used to the NBA will translate to the rhythms of college basketball. For North Carolina, the upside is easy to see, and so is the pressure that comes with it. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Could Have The Last Word In Nasir Anderson's Recruitment
Nasir Andersons recruitment is moving into the stretch run, and North Carolina has landed in a position that could matter more than most. The five-star point guard in the 2027 class recently trimmed his list to 10 finalists and has lined up eight official visits, giving programs a clearer sense of where they stand as the process gets more serious.
For the Tar Heels, the timing looks promising because Anderson is scheduled to end his tour in Chapel Hill on Oct. 30. When a top-10 talent is weighing options this early in the cycle, the order of visits can shape the conversation as much as any pitch, and UNC will get the final chance to make its case after he has seen the rest of the field. Even with a recent hip injury in the background, Anderson remains one of the most coveted guards in the country, which only raises the stakes for how that last stop plays out. [Read more 🡒]
Billy Edwards Jr. May Have Already Ended UNCs QB Debate
Billy Edwards Jr. walked into his North Carolina debut with a lot riding on it, and the opener offered a first real glimpse of how the Tar Heels might look under center. The transfer quarterback handled the start despite tough weather conditions and, after missing most of the previous season because of injury, delivered a steady outing by completing 16 of 28 passes for 232 yards.
What stood out most was not just the production, but the way Edwards Jr. managed the game. His consistency, decision-making and ball protection gave UNC something it had been searching for at quarterback, and it has already prompted some around the program to view him as the clear answer moving forward. For a team that entered the season with questions at the position, that kind of clarity can change the conversation quickly. [Read more 🡒]