North Carolina’s preseason slate just got a lot more revealing.
UNC will play USC in an exhibition game on Friday, October 9, at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, adding a second high-major tune-up before the Tar Heels begin the 2026-27 regular season. The game, billed as the “Preseason Premiere,” is set for 7 p.m., and tickets go on sale Friday, August 14.
That matchup gives Michael Malone’s team a pair of serious early tests. Carolina already had an exhibition date locked in against Indiana on Sunday, October 18, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
For UNC, the setup marks a clear change in how the program is approaching preseason play. In 2024-25, the Tar Heels opened with Memphis, winning 84-76, before coming home to beat Division II Johnson C.
Smith 127-63. Last season followed the same general pattern, with a trip to BYU at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City before a home exhibition against Division II Winston-Salem State.
This time, there’s no lower-division opponent in sight. Instead, Malone and the Tar Heels will spend both exhibition dates against high-major competition, first USC and then Indiana nine days later. For a team entering its first season under Malone, those games should tell a lot about how the roster, rotations and schemes hold up when the opposition is real.
The USC game also adds another wrinkle to Carolina’s 2026-27 trip to Greensboro. The Tar Heels will be at First Horizon Coliseum twice, with the exhibition on October 9 and then a December 15 non-conference meeting with NC State. UNC and the Wolfpack will also meet in ACC play in Chapel Hill, giving the Greensboro matchup an extra layer outside the league schedule.
The rest of Carolina’s schedule is coming together, too. The Tar Heels now have both preseason exhibitions set, and 13 of their 14 non-conference regular-season games are known.
Among the marquee dates already on the board: Arkansas at home in the ACC/SEC Challenge, West Virginia in Charlotte for the Dick Vitale Invitational, Georgetown in Washington, D.C., Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic and Illinois in Nashville. UNC’s official schedule currently confirms Indiana, Arkansas, Georgetown, Kentucky and Illinois.
Malone won’t have to wait until November to get a real read on his first Tar Heel team.
In Other News...
Seth Trimble Could Still Create An Awkward ACC Problem For UNC
Seth Trimbles next move is still unsettled, but the possibility of him taking advantage of an additional year of eligibility has already started to ripple through the ACC. The former UNC guard spent four seasons in Chapel Hill and, if he is able to play again in 2026-27, he would bring a familiar face and a proven backcourt presence back onto the market at a time when teams are always looking for experienced help.
A few programs are keeping close tabs on the situation, and the uncertainty is part of what makes it so tricky for Carolina to sort out from a distance. Trimbles eligibility hinges on NCAA rulings, and his previous run with the Washington Wizards in NBA Summer League only adds another layer to an already complicated process, leaving open the possibility that this quietly becomes an awkward conference headache for the Tar Heels. [Read more 🡒]
Bill Belichick Already Faces A Brutal Early Test At North Carolina
Bill Belichick arrived in Chapel Hill with the kind of name recognition that can change the temperature around a program overnight, but the work in front of him is the same kind that confronts every coach at North Carolina: turn a disappointing football team into one that can survive a demanding schedule. The Tar Heels are coming off a 4-8 season, and the expectation now is simple enough even if the path is not - show real improvement fast, or the questions will only get louder.
What makes this early stretch so uneasy is the way the football concerns have been layered with everything else around Belichicks arrival. North Carolina is already dealing with the pressure of a tough season ahead, and there are financial realities attached to any drastic move, which only raises the stakes if things go sideways again. For now, the Tar Heels are trying to keep the focus on results, because the margin for patience looks thin from the start. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Repeat Hopes Just Got A Big Backcourt Spotlight
Sports Illustrateds early look at the best shooting guards for the 2026-27 season offers a useful snapshot of how much talent is about to reshape the backcourt picture across college basketball. The list includes familiar names in new places, like Blackwell heading to Duke, as well as players such as Mullins returning to Washington and others like Haggerty, Holt, Falslev, McKenney and Mobley, each expected to play major roles after strong recent stretches.
For North Carolina fans, one of the more relevant entries is Able, the transfer from NC State, whose arrival adds another layer to the Tar Heels perimeter expectations. The ranking doesnt just nod to his upside, it frames him as someone whose first season in Chapel Hill could carry real weight in determining how far this team goes, with the spotlight now squarely on how quickly he settles in and how big a role he can handle right away. [Read more 🡒]