The non-conference schedule for the UNC basketball program is taking shape, as the Tar Heels will reportedly face a Big 12 foe in the second annual Dick Vitale Invitational at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
UNC braces for a clash with West Virginia in the Dick Vitale Invitational
Michael Malone and the Tar Heels will reportedly take on West Virginia in the second edition of this event, as first reported by Rocco Miller of The Field of 68. The event is scheduled to take place on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving.
NEWS: North Carolina and West Virginia are finalizing an agreement to meet in the 2nd Annual Dick Vitale Invitational at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, per multiple sources.
— Rocco Miller (@RoccoMiller8) May 14, 2026
The date is set for Friday, November 27th. #ACC #Big12 pic.twitter.com/1fKSKDiSzP
With this news, it appears that UNC will not be playing in Thanksgiving week event as it has in past seasons. Last year, the Hubert Davis-led Tar Heels participated in the Fort Myers Tip-Off, an event in which they defeated St. Bonaventure but suffered a double-digit loss to Michigan State on Thanksgiving Day.
Based on this reveal, it seems that the Tar Heels will likely only be playing once over this holiday week.
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This game not only helps bolster the Tar Heels' non-conference slate, but also provides them with the opportunity to do something that the program hasn't done before:
Beat the Mountaineers.
Yes, you read that right: West Virginia is one of the rare teams that UNC has failed to beat.
Of course, it's very important to note that all five meetings between the two programs occurred between 1949 and 1965. It's been quite some time since the two squared off against each other on the hardwood, but West Virginia has been victorious in each of those contests. The most notable occurred on December 21, 1957, a game in which the Mountaineers knocked off the No. 1-ranked Tar Heels by a score of 102-97, snapping UNC's 37-game winning streak.
Now,. it's time for the Tar Heels to figure out a way to defeat one of the very few programs that they have yet to beat throughout their history.
With this schedule reveal, we now know some details about the UNC basketball program's non-conference schedule for the 2026-2027 season. At the moment, here's what we know:
November 3 Western Carolina
November 6 Wofford
November 10 Wyoming
November 13 Georgia
November 20 Marshall
November 27 West Virginia (Dickie V Classic) (Charlotte)
December 12 Georgetown
December 19 Kentucky (CBS Sports Classic) (New York)
Other Confirmed Games
December (Date TBA) Butler
December (Date TBA) The Citadel
Bold- Home
Italics- Away
More schedule news should be on the way over the next few weeks, but this announcement adds some clarity to one of the biggest question marks regarding the non-conference slate. Now that we know the plan for Thanksgiving week, we now wait for some other notable details, such as information regarding the ACC/SEC Challenge as well as some other potential games that could find their way onto the schedule.
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