First Two Gametimes Announced

Chapel Hill, N.C. - North Carolina's season opener vs. Elon on Saturday, Sept. 1, will kickoff at 12:30 p.m. and will be televised by the ACC Network.

The following week, the Tar Heels travel to Winston-Salem for a 3 p.m. kickoff vs. Wake Forest. That game will be televised by the Regional Sports Networks (RSN).

The times and TV networks were announced Thursday by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Carolina's road game at Louisville on Sept. 15 will be televised by either ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. The time will be determined later this summer.

Carolina's Thursday night game at Virginia on Nov. 15 will be televised by ESPN at 7:30 p.m.

The ACC Network's game of the week is seen across the nation on a network of stations which last year included six of the top 10 markets in the nation--including Los Angeles (2), Philadelphia (4), San Francisco (6), Boston (7), Washington (8) and Atlanta (9)--11 of the nation's top 20 markets and 50 of the nation's top 100, while averaging 75 markets each week.

In addition, ACC Network games are also available digitally on ESPN3 and on the ACC App for I-Phones, I-Pads and Droid mobile devices.

The Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) throughout the ACC footprint consist of Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Carolinas, Comcast Sports Mid Atlantic and the New England Sports Network (NESN).

All RSN Games are also available on a series of other RSNs outside of the ACC footprint and also digitally on ESPN3.

The Tar Heels enter the 2012 season under first-year head coach Larry Fedora with eight returning offensive starters, including all-conference candidates Bryn Renner (QB), Giovani Bernard (TB), Jonathan Cooper (OG) and James Hurst (OT).

Seniors Kevin Reddick (LB) and Sylvester Williams (DT) highlight five returning starters on defense.