After one of the busiest weekends for all UNC sports, things calm down just a bit this week coming up. It’s almost as if the schedulers saw what this weekend was and wanted to leave Halloween alone as much as possible. The sports that have seasons spanning both semesters are wrapping up, regular seasons for a lot of fall sports are wrapping up, and winter sports are starting to get their seasons rolling.
We start with the two big sports as we’ve hit the time of year where they overlap.
UNC Basketball
One last exhibition for the Tar Heels as Michael Malone finally makes his debut in the Smith Center, and does so with some members of the Carolina family returning. Wes Miller begins his first season as the coach in Charlotte as he tries to rebound from a rough stint at Cincinnati. He’s not the only member of the family coming back, though, as Marcus Paige returns to Carolina as an assistant on the staff after having that role on Hubert Davis’ staff. The Tar Heels will try to rebound from a rough showing against Indiana
- Tuesday, 10/27 — vs Charlotte, Chapel Hill, NC — 7:30 PM, ACCNX (streaming only)
UNC Football
Somehow the football team has to swallow how much they gagged away the game against Syracuse this past weekend and prepare for the daunting matchup of the Miami Hurricanes. At least they’ll get to do it in primetime.
- Saturday, 10/31 — vs Miami, Chapel Hill, NC — 7:30 PM, ABC/ESPN
UNC Men’s Soccer
As unreal as it is to believe, the regular season comes to an end this week for the men’s soccer team. It’ll finish up at home following a week that saw them tie with Duke over in Durham. Once they finish up this week they’ll find out their path through the ACC Tournament, as the first two rounds will happen on campus sites before the Final Four play it out in Cary.
- Tuesday, 10/27 — vs William & Mary, Chapel Hill, NC — 6 PM, ACCNX (Streaming only)
- Friday, 10/30 — vs NC State, Chapel Hill, NC — 7 PM, ACCNX (Streaming only)
UNC Women’s Soccer
The regular season is also winding down here, oddly enough though it goes a week longer than the men’s side. They did a great job rebounding from a loss to Wake Forest by defeating seventh-ranked Stanford 1-0. The Tar Heels are looking to lock in a top two seed meaning they won’t have to play a campus site game before the Final Four in Cary. They are in good shape being up by two points over second place, and thus they control whether they’ll have to play that extra game.
- Thursday, 10/29 — vs SMU, Chapel Hill, NC — 7 PM, ACCNX (Streaming Only)
UNC Cross Country
It’s postseason time for the Cross Country runners as the league heads up to Blacksburg, Virginia to take part in the ACC Championships. The distance runners will be up early to compete, and the good news is you’ll be able to watch since it’s a championship. They’ve done well in meets during this season, with Freshman of the Week winners and top five finishes, so we’ll see how they do against the rest of the league.
- Friday, 10/30 — ACC Championships, Blacksburg, VA — 9:40 AM, ACC Network
UNC Field Hockey
The postseason is also calling for UNC Field Hockey, a team that suffered a tough loss last week to Wake Forest on Senior Night. This has easily been Erin Matson’s most inconsistent team in her coaching tenure at Carolina, but it won’t be the last time the Tar Heels play at home. Following their regular season finale this week, the ACC Championship will be played right inside Karen Shelton Stadium. This week’s game has huge implications for the seed Carolina will have going into that Tournament.
- Friday, 10/30 — at Duke, Durham, NC — 6 PM, ACC Network
UNC Volleyball
The home schedule rolls on for UNC. After hosting two west coast teams this past weekend and playing a showcase game against Stanford on ESPN, this weekend sees the volleyball team continue ACC play inside Carmichael. The two squads coming in are near the bottom of the league, so there’s a chance here for the Tar Heels to keep padding their record.
- Friday, 10/30 — vs Syracuse, Chapel Hill, NC — 7 PM, ACCNX (Streaming only)
- Sunday, 11/1 — vs. Boston College, Chapel Hill, NC — 2 PM, ACC Network
UNC Wrestling
It’s time for another winter sport to get itself going as the UNC grapplers head for the Southeast Open to start their season. Unlike most meets that are team against team, this is more of a one-on-one tournament that will let the wrestlers get into the season and face off against different schools. They’ll have an exhibition before the regular schedule starts getting with the calendar turning to November.
- Sunday, 11/1 — South East Open, Salem, VA — all day, FloWrestling (Streaming only, sub required)