After beating Ohio State 89-84 in an overtime thriller as a part of last season’s CBS Sports Classic, North Carolina has been invited back to its annual doubleheader featuring the country’s most successful programs. This season, however, the stakes have been raised! The Tar Heels will take on the Kentucky Wildcats. Let’s dive in…
A Little History
This historic showdown, slated for December 16, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia, marks the 43rd matchup between Kentucky and North Carolina. While North Carolina is 25-17 in their 42 previous showdowns, when these two elite programs match up fireworks should be expected.
They’ve met four times in the Elite Eight, with North Carolina winning three of those games. In 2017, the Tar Heels held on after a seemingly impossible rally by the Wildcats, with Luke Maye (brother of Tar Heel quarterback Drake Maye) hitting a game-winning shot that will forever live in infamy.
There have been memorable regular-season showdowns as well. Who can forget Tayshaun Prince hitting five threes in a row back in 2001? Or how about the 2005 showdown that saw Tyler Hansbrough lead unranked North Carolina to an upset victory against the 10th-ranked Wildcats?
Whenever these two teams, who have combined to win 14 national championships, play, it is unique.
The Matchup
In CBS’ most recent preseason power rankings, Kentucky and North Carolina ranked 16th and 22nd respectively. Both teams have a lot of turnover but for different reasons.
Kentucky, led by John Calipari, will head into the season in a way familiar to many Wildcat fans; drinking from the fountain of youth. Calipari, once again, will bring in the number one recruiting class in the country. While Calipari is known for landing blue-chip, star prospects like John Wall and Anthony Davis, it is possible that this year is the deepest freshman class he’s ever had.
Consider this; Kentucky is bringing in seven freshmen who were graded as at least three-star prospects coming out of high school. Justin Edwards, Aaron Bradshaw, Reed Sheppard, D.J. Wagner, Joey Hart, Jordan Burks, and Robert Dillingham will be asked to turn this heralded program around after a recent mini-slump. Rounding out the team is veteran Antonio Reeves who will use his COVID eligibility to play one final season at Kentucky.
Across the court, North Carolina will be led by Hubert Davis who has been quite busy this offseason. While Armando Bacot and R.J. Davis both decided to return to Chapel Hill, the rest of the Tar Heels’ roster will look quite different. Caleb Love and Puff Johnson will be donning different uniforms, but Davis brought in a slew of talented players to try and replace them. Jae’Lyn Withers (Louisville), Paxson Wojcik (Brown), Cormac Ryan (Notre Dame), Harrison Ingram (Stanford), James Okonkwo (West Virginia), as well as Elliot Cadeau, who recently reclassified to start at North Carolina a year early, will look to bring a championship back to the University of North Carolina.
This 43rd showdown will not only be a marquee matchup for College Basketball, but it will serve as a measuring stick for both programs to determine where they are as they try to re-climb the ladder to the top of the sport.
