Who will the UNC basketball program play in the 2024 Maui Invitational opening round?

As we already know, Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program are heading to Hawaii to compete in the 2024 Maui Invitational.

What we now know who the Tar Heels will match up against in the event's opening round.

As Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported, the UNC basketball program will play Dayton in the opening round of the 2024 Maui Invitational. The Flyers are coming off an impressive 25-8 season and an NCAA Tournament berth.

This will mark the third time the two programs will match up, as they've split each of the previous meetings.

Once again, the field for this year's Maui Invitational is loaded, as seven of the eight teams involved made NCAA Tournament appearances a season ago. In addition, four teams among the field have won this event in the past, which shows that the experience factor for this invitational is undoubtedly there.

This marks the first time the UNC basketball program returns to Maui since 2016, as the last time they competed in 2020 was held in Asheville. The Tar Heels have won the tournament in four of the last five times it’s been played in Maui, as winning this event has been a good omen for what was to come for the program throughout the remainder of that given season.

The non-conference schedule for Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels is once again extremely competitive, as they'll once again be challenged early and often throughout the 2024-2025 season. The trip to Hawaii is no exception, as the UNC basketball program will be battle tested when they travel to paradise.