The North Carolina Tar Heels will tip off the 2024-25 college basketball season in just a few weeks. Hubert Davis’ team has a very tough non-conference schedule to go through but already, the program is adding games to next season’s schedule.
Per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, the Tar Heels have agreed to play the Michigan State Spartans on Thanksgiving in 2025. It’s a big non-conference game for both programs and will be in the national spotlight.
Norlander reports that the game will air on FOX right after the Detroit Lions‘ traditional Thanksgiving game. That means there will be a national audience for the game and the NFL viewership could spill into that game. However, the Dallas Cowboys usually kick off right after the Lions on the holiday as well.
NEWS: North Carolina and Michigan St. have verbally agreed to play each other NEXT Thanksgiving—in 2025—as part of the four-team Fort Myers Tip-Off, sources tell @CBSSports. Mid-major teams are TBD. Game will air in the late afternoon on Fox after the Lions NFL game. Big matchup.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) October 2, 2024
This year, Arkansas and Illinois will face off on Thanksgiving, so this appears to be a new tradition for the sport outside of the traditional tournaments during that week.
It also means that UNC will likely NOT play in a holiday event for the 2025-26 season. This year they are scheduled to play in the Maui Invitational.
UNC and Michigan State have an extensive history against each other with the Tar Heels eliminating the Spartans in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament as the most recent game. The Tar Heels also won the 2009 national championship in Detroit, beating the Spartans.
North Carolina will also host Kansas in Chapel Hill on Nov. 14, 2025 as part of its non-conference schedule. More games will be added as the months go on.
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