CHAPEL HILL – Roy Williams wants to play as many games as he can.
So, with North Carolina now having three home games postponed with no reschedule dates determined, UNC is looking to play any of those games at some point before the regular season ends on March 6 or perhaps bring in different teams.
If not, and the Tar Heels don’t get in 20 ACC games, they could go outside the conference to reach the NCAA maximum of 24 games, not including the three sanctioned games from the Maui Invitational, but UNC isn’t at a point yet where it’s looking outside the conference.
The bottom line is that Williams and the Tar Heels want to play the games and would rather make up the postponed games versus Clemson, Miami, and Virginia Tech, which was slated for Tuesday but called off Saturday evening due to positive COVID testing within the Hokies’ program.
“We really want to try to reschedule those games,” he said on Friday, the day before UNC’s loss at Virginia, which was Carolina’s 19th game of the season. “We’re sitting here February 12 and we’ve played six home games. You look at everybody’s schedule around the country, there’s not many teams if any that have only played six home games.”
UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham and Clint Gwaltney, Senior Associate A.D., Smith Center Operations/Event Management, have been tasked with trying to make this work. Williams has given his opinion but rescheduling the postponed home games versus Clemson, Miami, and Virginia Tech are not on his daily docket.
Clemson was originally supposed to visit the Smith Center on Jan. 9, but the game was postponed by the ACC because of COVID issues within the Tigers’ program. Miami was to visit at Carolina last Monday, but the Hurricanes were uncomfortable playing the game after videos surfaced of two UNC players maskless at a party two nights earlier following the Tar Heels’ win at Duke.
As it stands, if no games are made up, UNC will end up playing seven ACC home games but 10 on the road.
“That’s not very good,” Williams said. “So, we’re trying to do everything we can to have some of these games rescheduled.”
Williams said there are some dates they have “thrown out there” to the ACC about how the games can be made up, but he said the options don’t have to be limited to Clemson, Miami, or Virginia Tech visiting the Smith Center.
“I am of the opinion, if they don’t do it, I’m willing to go ahead and play somebody else because we’d like to play more games…,” he said. “We’re not at the point yet where we’re just going to go out and call people and see if they want to play. We’re not doing that. We’re trying to give the ACC office an opportunity to talk to both parties in every situation and try to see if we can reschedule some games.”
In looking at when Clemson might be able to visit Chapel Hill, UNC is at Syracuse on March 1 before hosting Duke on March 6. Clemson also concludes its regular season on the sixth, but it’s game before that is Feb. 27, so it’s conceivable the Tigers and Tar Heels can play Wednesday, March 3.
Getting Miami back up to UNC may be a challenge in addition to finding an agreeable open date that matches. Though, with Tuesday's game now postponed, it's possible the Hurricanes could visit the Smith Center in place of that game. Miami is at Notre Dame on Valentine's Day but is then off until the following Saturday. In addition, Wednesday March 5 could work because Miami also plays the first and sixth. as do the Tar Heels.
It appears the only logical date the Tar Heels and Hokies could make up that game is Thursday, Feb. 25. Both play the 23rd and 27th, otherwise, their schedules don’t offer many other options.
Getting Clemson to Carolina the week noted or Virginia Tech to the Smith Center on the 25th would mean scenarios in which the Heels would play three games in six days or three games in five days. But it isn’t as if the Tar Heels or other teams haven’t done that before. It often happens during the pre-conference part of the schedule.
“Two games a week is nice, but we’ve played three games a week a lot,” Williams said. “Shoot, one year in (our) schedule, we played six games in the first 12 days.”
And if the ACC can’t work out adding one or both postponed game slots, UNC can go outside the league to find opponents. The four-game maximum – seven including UNC’s three sanctioned games in the Maui Invitational - on scheduled nonconference games is based on a 20-game ACC slate. If a team cannot get to 20 games, it is free to schedule an opponent from outside of the conference.
But UNC hasn’t reached that point yet, a program spokesman told THI on Friday. So as of now, the Tar Heels are working to fulfill its ACC slate.
Carolina is (insert record and NET ranking) and need as many wins as possible to enhance its NCAA resume, so more games is better for its prospects.
The Tar Heels host Virginia Tech and Louisville this week, games that would help their NET and NCAA chances if the Heels notch victories. Also remaining on the slate, in order, are a trip then to Boston College on Feb. 23, home versus Florida State on Feb. 27, at Syracuse on March 1 and home versus Duke on March 6 to close out the regular season.