While college football fans everywhere are waiting for the season to start in late August, they are trying to keep themselves busy with schedule predictions.
“Week Zero” kicks off with a highly-anticipated Navy-Notre Dame matchup in Dublin on Saturday, Aug. 26, then we get into a full slate of Week 1 games the following Saturday.
UNC’s 2023 campaign, however, kicks off with a tough task in SEC rival South Carolina for the second time in three years. This season, both schools will matchup on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET under the bright lights of Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
The Gamecocks, who won the 2021 opener by a comfortable 38-21 margin, have taken four out of the past five matchups in the series. UNC’s last win in the series came during the 2019 opener, when Mack Brown coached his first game back in baby blue and Sam Howell led the Heels on a 15-point, fourth-quarter comeback.
After a matchup with South Carolina, UNC hosts App State the following weekend in a rematch of last year’s record-setting, 63-61 thriller in Boone. The Tar Heels stay at home on Sept. 16 to host Minnesota, travel to the University of Pittsburgh to kick off ACC play on Sept. 23, then enter their bye week.
Carolina will face a slew of tough opponents out of its bye, including Clemson and N.C. State on the road to close the regular-season out. The hope is, always, that the Heels will be in position to contend for an ACC championship and maybe more.
Another important thing to note about UNC’s schedule: it only faces one FCS opponent – Campbell on Nov. 4.
Let’s see how Tar Heel Twitter reacted to On3 Sports tweeting out the schedule yesterday: