Can't wait for next year? Me neither. Here is a quick look at our schedule so far:
Total Games: 31 (18 ACC, 13 non-conference)
Non-Conference Confirmed (11 games):
@ Tennessee
@ Stanford
@ Davidson
vs Wofford
vs Northern Iowa
vs Tulane
vs Michigan (ACC/B1G Challenge)
vs Ohio State (CBS Sports Classic in New Orleans)
3 games at Phil Knight Invitational
- vs Portland
- vs Arkansas/Oklahoma
- vs Oregon/UConn/Mich St/Georgetown
Looks like we will start the season vs Northern Iowa, then do a West Coast sojourn @ Stanford and in Oregon for the Invitational (all games are scheduled in November). While we don't know our specific opponents in that tournament, we can get a good idea. There are 16 teams scheduled for two 8 team tournaments, with each bracket getting no more than 1 team from any conference. So Dook is in the Invitational, but they are sure to be in the other 8 team bracket. Ohio State and Michigan State are both in it, but since we already play Ohio State I am pretty positive we will be in Michigan State's bracket. Oregon will be in our bracket because Stanford is the other Pac-12 team, and we already play them this year. Gonzaga is also in there, and I doubt they'd miss the chance to pair us together. Portland and Portland State are in, and since we should get a #1 seed I'm guessing one of them will be our opening day opponent. A possible 3 game schedule could be Portland, Winner of Mich State vs. Oklahoma, and then Gonzaga/Florida/Arkansas. Other possible opponents are Texas, Butler, UConn, and Georgetown. Sounds like a fun tournament.
Outside of that we have some rematches from last year, with us going to Davidson and Tennessee this time. I'll assume that the B1G/ACC challenge is at home since last year we played at Indiana. It's not likely to be against MSU since we could play them in Oregon. So maybe Michigan, Wisconsin, or Maryland? They usually want us to play a marketable team for TV. That gets us to 13 home games for the year. I'll assume we want the other two remaining games at home. We had 16 home games last year, and those are important for generating revenue. So with 7 confirmed non-home dates, we already can only max at 15 home games.
Possibilities for the last two non-conference games:
Kentucky: There seems to be mutual interest in a date for 2017 (see: http://sports.usatoday.com/2016/05/31/uk-basketball-getting-paid-to-hit-road-in-201617/). In that link it says Kentucky goes for 17 home games a year. If Kentucky can satisfy that they may be up for a game in Chapel Hill in return for a home game in 2019 (we are already scheduled to play a neutral site game in the CBS Sports Classic in 2018). I think most of us would love this option.
1 more low-major team: Otherwise the spots will likely be filled by low-major teams that we can get to come to Chapel Hill for $25-50k. That gets us up to 15 home games, with hopefully one marquee home date vs a B1G opponent and possibly the UK game.
ACC schedule (18 games):
2 games against Duke, NC State, Clemson, and Notre Dame; 1 vs everyone else
That's a decent doubles slate. Clemson (no Blossomgame) and NC State should be rebuilding, while Notre Dame loses a couple of pieces but keeps Bonzi Colson. We do unfortunately get Virginia, Cuse, and Louisville on the road every even year (plus FSU and VT), which will be tough. Our home schedule looks pretty easy, as Dook could end up being the only top 25 ACC team we play at the Dean Dome. If we can hold serve on the road we should have a chance at a regular season title again.
Update: Added in Portland and Arkansas/Oklahoma for the PKI tournament. As predicted we have Oregon and Michigan State in our bracket, although they did not throw Gonzaga in there with us. Added Michigan; they did end up giving us a high profile partner.
Total Games: 31 (18 ACC, 13 non-conference)
Non-Conference Confirmed (11 games):
@ Tennessee
@ Stanford
@ Davidson
vs Wofford
vs Northern Iowa
vs Tulane
vs Michigan (ACC/B1G Challenge)
vs Ohio State (CBS Sports Classic in New Orleans)
3 games at Phil Knight Invitational
- vs Portland
- vs Arkansas/Oklahoma
- vs Oregon/UConn/Mich St/Georgetown
Looks like we will start the season vs Northern Iowa, then do a West Coast sojourn @ Stanford and in Oregon for the Invitational (all games are scheduled in November). While we don't know our specific opponents in that tournament, we can get a good idea. There are 16 teams scheduled for two 8 team tournaments, with each bracket getting no more than 1 team from any conference. So Dook is in the Invitational, but they are sure to be in the other 8 team bracket. Ohio State and Michigan State are both in it, but since we already play Ohio State I am pretty positive we will be in Michigan State's bracket. Oregon will be in our bracket because Stanford is the other Pac-12 team, and we already play them this year. Gonzaga is also in there, and I doubt they'd miss the chance to pair us together. Portland and Portland State are in, and since we should get a #1 seed I'm guessing one of them will be our opening day opponent. A possible 3 game schedule could be Portland, Winner of Mich State vs. Oklahoma, and then Gonzaga/Florida/Arkansas. Other possible opponents are Texas, Butler, UConn, and Georgetown. Sounds like a fun tournament.
Outside of that we have some rematches from last year, with us going to Davidson and Tennessee this time. I'll assume that the B1G/ACC challenge is at home since last year we played at Indiana. It's not likely to be against MSU since we could play them in Oregon. So maybe Michigan, Wisconsin, or Maryland? They usually want us to play a marketable team for TV. That gets us to 13 home games for the year. I'll assume we want the other two remaining games at home. We had 16 home games last year, and those are important for generating revenue. So with 7 confirmed non-home dates, we already can only max at 15 home games.
Possibilities for the last two non-conference games:
Kentucky: There seems to be mutual interest in a date for 2017 (see: http://sports.usatoday.com/2016/05/31/uk-basketball-getting-paid-to-hit-road-in-201617/). In that link it says Kentucky goes for 17 home games a year. If Kentucky can satisfy that they may be up for a game in Chapel Hill in return for a home game in 2019 (we are already scheduled to play a neutral site game in the CBS Sports Classic in 2018). I think most of us would love this option.
1 more low-major team: Otherwise the spots will likely be filled by low-major teams that we can get to come to Chapel Hill for $25-50k. That gets us up to 15 home games, with hopefully one marquee home date vs a B1G opponent and possibly the UK game.
ACC schedule (18 games):
2 games against Duke, NC State, Clemson, and Notre Dame; 1 vs everyone else
That's a decent doubles slate. Clemson (no Blossomgame) and NC State should be rebuilding, while Notre Dame loses a couple of pieces but keeps Bonzi Colson. We do unfortunately get Virginia, Cuse, and Louisville on the road every even year (plus FSU and VT), which will be tough. Our home schedule looks pretty easy, as Dook could end up being the only top 25 ACC team we play at the Dean Dome. If we can hold serve on the road we should have a chance at a regular season title again.
Update: Added in Portland and Arkansas/Oklahoma for the PKI tournament. As predicted we have Oregon and Michigan State in our bracket, although they did not throw Gonzaga in there with us. Added Michigan; they did end up giving us a high profile partner.
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