CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — After sneaking into the NCAA Tournament last season, North Carolina men’s basketball will try to be in a better spot entering the next postseason.
To get there, the Tar Heels will have to navigate a 31-game regular season slate that includes nonconference games against Kansas and Kentucky, a January trip out to the Atlantic Coast Conference‘s West Coast schools and, as per tradition, two matchups against archrival Duke.
UNC’s second game of the season is the back end of a home-and-home series with fellow blue blood program Kansas. The Jayhawks — who defeated the Tar Heels 92-89 last November at Phog Allen Field house — will be playing at the Smith Center for the first time on Nov. 7. Later that month, they travel to southwest Florida Thanksgiving week to face St. Bonaventure and Michigan State in the 2025 Fort Myers Tip-Off. That tournament will be followed by a trip to Kentucky for the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge.
With the ACC reducing the league schedule this season to allow schools to boost strength of schedule by playing other powerhouses, UNC will not be hosting NC State for the first time since 1919. But that rivalry series will still continue, as the Tar Heels are scheduled to play in Raleigh on Feb. 17.
In the sport’s biggest rivalry, UNC will host Duke on Feb. 7 and then play at Cameron Indoor Stadium exactly a month later for the last game before the conference tournament.
Prior to the regular season, UNC will play two preseason games: against BYU at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 24 and at home against Winston-Salem State on Oct. 29.
Here’s the full schedule for the Tar Heels for the 2025-26 season, with home games in bold.
2025-2026 North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball regular season schedule
November
- Monday, Nov. 3: Central Arkansas, 7 p.m.*
- Friday, Nov. 7: Kansas, 7 p.m.*
- Tuesday, Nov. 11: Radford, 7 p.m.*
- Friday, Nov. 14: NC Central, 9 p.m.*
- Tuesday, Nov. 18: Navy, 7 p.m.*
- Tuesday, Nov. 25: vs. St. Bonaventure, 6 p.m.* (2025 Fort Myers Tip-off in Fort Myers, Fla.)
- Thursday, Nov. 27: vs. Michigan State, 4:30 p.m.* (2025 Fort Myers Tip-off in Fort Myers, Fla.)
December
- Tuesday, Dec. 2: at Kentucky, 9:30 p.m.* (2025 ACC/SEC Challenge)
- Sunday, Dec. 7: Georgetown, 5 p.m.*
- Saturday, Dec. 13: USC Upstate, 2 p.m.*
- Tuesday, Dec. 16: ETSU, 8 p.m.*
- Saturday, Dec. 20: vs. Ohio State, 3 p.m.* (2025 CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, Ga.)
- Monday, Dec. 22: ECU, 8 p.m.*
- Tuesday, Dec. 30: Florida State, 7 p.m.
January
- Saturday, Jan. 3: at SMU, 2:15 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 10: Wake Forest, 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, Jan. 14: at Stanford, 9 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 17: at Cal, 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, Jan. 21: Notre Dame, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 24: at Virginia, TBA
- Saturday, Jan. 31: at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m.
February
- Monday, Feb. 2: Syracuse, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 7: Duke, 6:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, Feb. 10: at Miami, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 14: Pitt, 2 p.m.
- Tuesday, Feb. 17: at NC State, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 21: at Syracuse, 1 p.m.
- Monday, Feb. 23: Louisville, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 28: Virginia Tech, TBA
March
- Tuesday, March 3: Clemson, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, March 7: at Duke, 6:30 p.m.