The ACC has three new basketball programs this coming season, with SMU, California, and Stanford all a part of the conference’s expansion to 18 basketball schools.
Plenty of new relationships will be created on the hardwood, as most ACC programs have limited experience facing the new schools, including North Carolina, which has played them a combined total of just 20 times.
Here, we will look at UNC’s history with SMU, Cal, and Stanford:
SMU (2-1)
*1985 in Greensboro: SMU 84, UNC 82
*1986 in Dallas: UNC 88, SMU 86
*1987 in CH: UNC 90, SMU 74
Notes: SMU had a good program in the early-mid 1980s under Dave Bliss. Jon Koncak was a 7-foot All-America center who played in the NBA. In the 1984-85 season, the Mustangs went 23-10 overall and 10-6 in the Southwest Conference, which was a power league that later merged with the Big 8 to form the Big 12. That club lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 1986 SMU team went 18-11 overall and 10-6 in the SWC, and unlike the year before, was snubbed from the NCAA Tournament.
The 1987 Ponies struggled to a 16-13 overall mark a season before going 28-7.
Former UNC starter on the 1982 national championship team and head coach (2000-03) Matt Doherty was SMU’s head coach from 2006-2012. Former Tar Heel Larry Brown coached the Mustangs from 2012-16 leading them to 15, 27, 27, and 25 wins.
UNC hosts SMU this coming season.
Cal (4-1)
*1972 in Berkeley, UNC 64, Cal 60
*1973 in CH, UNC 74, Cal 70
*1997 in Syracuse, UNC 63, Cal 57
*1997 in CH, UNC 71, Cal 47
*1998 in Oakland: Cal 78, UNC 71
Cal basketball wasn’t much until Lou Campanelli went from JMU to Berkeley before the 1985-86 season. He made a quick impact, leading the Bears to their first 20-win seasons by year two, and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, including a spot in the Sweet 16 in 1993.
Todd Bozeman’s short tenure at the helm led to Ben Braun, one of the better college coaches of that period. He led the Bears to six 20-win seasons, including a 22-11 overall mark the year they beat UNC. Cal later won the NIT championship that season.
UNC beat Cal in the Sweet 16 in 1997, and they played again early the following season.
In the Pete Newell Challenge played in the Golden State Warriors former home in December 1998, ffuture NBA guard Geno Carlisle scored 29 points that night, and fellow future NBA player Sean Lampley added 14 in Cal's win.
UNC hosts Cal this coming season.
Stanford (13-0)
*1967 in Portland, UNC 87, Stanford 78
*1977 in Honoulu, UNC 92, Stanford 61
*1983 in Paolo Alto, UNC 88, Stanford 75
*1985 in CH, UNC 89, Stanford 55
*1988 in CH, UNC 87, Stanford 76
*1990 in Oranaldo, UNC 71, Stanford 60
*1995 in Charlotte, UNC 87, Stanford 63
*1998 in NYC: UNC 57, Stanford 49
*2000 in Birmingham: UNC 60, Stanford 53*
*2002 in NYC: UNC 74, Stanford 57
*2017 in Palo Alto: UNC 96, Stanford72
*2018 in CH: UNC 90, Stanford 72
*2000 in Ashville: UNC 67, Stanford 63
When Stanford hired Mike Montgomery as its basketball coach prior to the 1986-87 season, nobody knew what was coming. The Cardinal had been mediocre at best for decades, but Montgomery took the program to unforeseen heights as one of the best in the nation for an extended period of time.
An NCAA Tournament trip in his third year, NIT championship in his fourth, and then 10 consecutive NCAA appearances that included a Final Four in 1998, Elite Eight in 2001, Sweet 16 in 1997, and second round in seven other seasons.
The program has largely struggled since with only four NCAA Tournament appearances, including none under former UNC assistant coach Jerod Haase from 2016-2024.
UNC hosts Stanford this coming season.
