UNC Basketball: Tar Heels 2017-2018 Schedule Breakdown

After a fantastic season that gave us a championship and many more memories, it’s now time to look ahead to next year.

With many high-profile non-conference games in the 2017-2018 season, North Carolina will be battle tested early and often next year.

North Carolina will open its season at home against Northern Iowa on November 10th. If the championship banner isn’t raised during Late Night With Roy, it’s a safe assumption that the banner would be showcased before the Northern Iowa tip.

After that, the Tar Heels will fly to Stanford for a matchup against the Cardinal. Jerod Haase will get to coach against Roy Williams for the first time as Stanford’s head coach.

The Tar Heels will then head to Oregon for the Phil Knight Invitational. This is in celebration of Phil Knight’s (Nike founder) 80th birthday.

One of the biggest high-profile tournaments in recent history, Nike is introducing its inaugural Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, OR.

Apr 3, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Joel Berry II (2) and North Carolina Tar Heels forward Justin Jackson (44) celebrates after beating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the championship game of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /

The tournament will be split up into two brackets of eight teams with two eventual champions and take place over Thanksgiving week (11/23-11/26).

The teams invited to participate in the tournament are North Carolina, Duke, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Uconn, Arkansas, Butler, Georgetown, Florida, Texas, Stanford, Oregon, Portland, and Portland State.

As you can see, four of those teams would be a rematch of NCAA Tournament games last year for the Tar Heels (Arkansas, Butler, Oregon, Gonzaga).

Don’t expect Duke and North Carolina to be on the same side of the bracket, though, as they will make sure those two conference opponents don’t meet in the same side of the bracket.

Duke and Michigan State are slated to play in the Champions Classic and with the potential of a UNC vs Michigan State matchup in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, it’ll be interesting to see where Michigan State ends up.

I would bet to see Gonzaga and Oregon on the same side as the Tar Heels to set up possible Final Four and National Championship rematches from this past season.

Whoever ends up on Carolina’s side of the bracket, the Tar Heels will be tested throughout the entire tournament, giving fans a good look at what exactly this team is made of so early in the season.

More from UNC Basketball

After a quick start to the year, the Tar Heels then face Wofford in Chapel Hill on December 20th. A couple of days after that, they will take on Ohio State in the four-team CBS Sports Classic in New Orleans.

To round out the non-conference slate for the Tar Heels, Carolina will travel to Tennessee and Davidson, and host Tulane.

As we look at the conference matchups, the Tar Heels will have a home-and-home with Duke, NC State, Clemson, and Notre Dame.

They will play the following teams only once and in Chapel Hill; Miami, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Pitt, and Boston College.

The remaining games against Florida State, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Louisville, and Syracuse will all take place away from Chapel Hill.

Though dates and times are not set for all games, this is a good sneak peek at what the year should look like for the Tar Heels.

Now, we just have to wait six more months until the defending champs take the floor again. If only we could fast forward to November 10th now.

Home/UNC Basketball