CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — The latest edition in a rivalry that has emerged in recent years will be played in Chapel Hill Wednesday night in the 2024 SEC/ACC Challenge.
The No. 20 North Carolina Tar Heels (4-3) and No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide (6-2) are set for a matchup at the Smith Center. Tip off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
This will be the third season in a row the two teams have faced each other. Over Thanksgiving week in 2022, the Tide outlasted the Tar Heels 103-101 in four overtimes in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland. Then this past March, Alabama once again topped UNC 89-87 in a West Regional Sweet 16 game in Los Angeles.
Carolina is fresh off a trip to the Maui Invitational, where they went 1-2. After coming from behind to beat Dayton in their opening game, they lost the next two — to eventual tournament champion Auburn and then to Michigan State — at the Lahaina Civic Center in the days before Thanksgiving.
Alabama is also coming off a tournament loss on the other side of the country. The Crimson Tide lost to undefeated Oregon in Las Vegas Saturday in the final of the first-ever Players Era Festival Championship.
The Tar Heels open Atlantic Coast Conference play later this week as they host Georgia Tech on Saturday.