UNC Women's Basketball to compete in big-time event for first time in program history

While the UNC women's basketball program hasn't released its official non-conference schedule just yet, a major leak to that schedule has surfaced.

According to the Battle 4 Atlantis website, Courtney Banghart's squad will be one of the teams in this year's field. The eight-team tournament runs from November 23-25 on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

The reported field of teams is super competitive, as five of the eight teams (including North Carolina) made the NCAA Tournament a season ago. Here's the programs that are expected to participate in this year's event:

Ball State
Baylor
Columbia
Indiana
North Carolina
Southern Mississippi
Texas A&M
Villanova

Last season, the UNC women's basketball program spent Thanksgiving week in Estero, Florida as they competed in the Gulf Coast Showcase. While the UNC men's basketball program has competed in the Battle 4 Atlantis on three separate occasions (most recently last season), this will mark the first time that the UNC women's basketball program will be among the field of teams at the event.

Some schedule drops have already come, as we know that the Tar Heels will host Kentucky as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge on December 5 and will compete in the annual Jumpman Invitational against Florida at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center a few weeks later on December 8. The Tar Heels are also slated to play UConn at a neutral site in the state of North Carolina, as the schedule portions that we have already indicate a grueling non-conference schedule for the UNC women's basketball program.

To be the best, you must compete against the best, and Banghart and the Tar Heels aren't afraid of competing against the top programs the sport has to offer. While the non-conference schedule will once again be tough, it will serve as a tremendous opportunity for the Tar Heels to boost their NCAA Tournament resume if they can pick up a few quality wins against some of the top-tier matchups on their schedule.