Where UNC basketball ranks in Sports Illustrated’s preseason rankings
The North Carolina Tar Heels will open up the 2023-24 season on Monday as they host Radford. It will be year three for Hubert Davis as head coach, leading the Tar Heels to a Final Four run in year one but missing the tournament the next season.
As UNC looks to rebound and get back to the tournament, they will do so with a new-look roster.
The Tar Heels lost a handful of players to the transfer portal including standout Caleb Love who was one of three starters to leave, joining Leaky Black and Pete Nance who both graduated. But UNC welcomes in a big transfer class headlined by Harrison Ingram and a two-man recruiting class led by Elliot Cadeau.
Before the action begins next week, Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney ranked every college basketball team from No. 1 to No. 362. For North Carolina, they checked in at No. 21 on the list and the third-highest-ranked team in the ACC:
A pivotal year looms for Hubert Davis after last season’s debacle. The returns of Armando Bacot and R.J. Davis are a good place to start, but Davis’s bets on the retooled group around them will determine whether the Heels can bounce back in 2023–24.
North Carolina has made the Top 25 in both preseason polls and the majority of the power rankings ahead of the season. Now, all that’s left is to prove it on the court.
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