GREENSBORO — UNC basketball and N.C. State will play a nonconference game at the Greensboro Coliseum during the 2026-27 season.
Representatives of the Oak View Group, First Horizon Coliseum and Old Dominion Freight Line made the announcement during a press conference on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Dubbed "The Tobacco Road Classic," the rivalry game is set for Dec. 15. Tickets will go on sale through First Horizon Coliseum on Thursday, Sept. 10.
It's a two-year deal, so there will be a return game in 2027.
The Tar Heels have a 10-4 record against the Wolfpack in Greensboro, but the teams haven’t played there since the 1998 ACC Tournament. It’ll be the first regular-season meeting between the programs in Greensboro since the Big Four Tournament in 1979.
Last season, for the first time in 100 years, UNC and N.C. State didn’t play twice in the regular season. The Wolfpack won the lone meeting in Raleigh, earning a 82-58 win at Lenovo Center.
N.C. State had played in Chapel Hill every year since 1919 before that streak ended in 2026. This season, the Tar Heels will host the Wolfpack at the Smith Center, but won’t have a game in Raleigh for the first time since 1947.
For the first time since the 1946-47 season, UNC and N.C. State will face each other with first-year coaches on the sidelines. Everett Case led the Wolfpack to a pair of victories against Tom Scott’s Tar Heels that season.
This year, Michael Malone took over the Tar Heels after a quarter century in the NBA and Justin Gainey returned to his alma mater in Raleigh to start his head-coaching career. UNC's roster features N.C. State transfer Matt Able and the Pack's roster features former Tar Heel big man Ven-Allen Lubin.
The ACC’s shift to an 18-game league schedule shifted some longtime rivalries in the conference, which was formed in 1953. With the changes, UNC’s primary partner is Duke and N.C. State’s is Wake Forest. The other home-and-home series rotates each year.
Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to rbaxley@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball vs NC State game set for Greensboro this season
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