One of the bigger road tests of the season awaits North Carolina on Saturday, as the eighth-ranked Tar Heels visit No. 16 Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The teams will meet again in Chapel Hill later in the season, and the outcomes of their battles could prove crucial in slotting the top three spots in the ACC.

Carolina has won three consecutive games and is coming off a 70-57 victory at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, while the Tigers fell at Miami, 95-82, on Wednesday night. Clemson’s other loss was by two points at Memphis, and among its wins are at Pittsburgh, at Alabama, on a neutral site versus TCU, and at home against South Carolina.

The top two ACC teams in the NET rankings – UNC is 12, Clemson is 16 – the game features several players that are serious contenders for first-team All-ACC, and given how the season has gone so far, two player of the year candidates in Carolina’s RJ Davis and Clemson’s P.J. Hall.