For the fifth time in the last six seasons, Michigan and North Carolina will face off for a non-conference game. The Tar Heels have won both games in North Carolina, including last year’s Big Ten-ACC Challenge romp, while Michigan prevailed in the Bahamas (2019) and Ann Arbor (2018).
Now the two programs will face off in Charlotte as part of the inaugural Jumpman Invitational (7:00 p.m., ESPN) on Wednesday night. Michigan gets the unlucky draw of facing the home school in a four-team rotating neutral site tournament but has an all-important final chance at picking up a quality win in non-conference play.
The Tar Heels entered the year as preseason No. 1 thanks to their March Madness run a year ago, but have struggled to live up to those lofty expectations. In reality, Carolina has only fallen ten spots in KenPom (9th to 19th) and is still one of the better teams in the country. A four-game losing streak to Iowa State, Alabama, Indiana, and Virginia Tech deflated expectations in a hurry, but those losses were all at road or neutral venues against top 50 opponents.
North Carolina got back on track Saturday with an overtime win over Ohio State at Madison Square Garden. The Har Heels might not have the best team in the country upside that was predicted in the preseason, but they have no shortage of talent and offensive skill.
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