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USA Today
31-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UNC WBB to open up 2025-2026 season against 3-time National Champions
Who will the UNC women's basketball team face to kick off its 2025-2026 season? See you in the ATL 👋 Under the guidance of head coach Courtney Banghart, the UNC women's basketball team is turning itself back into a talented, respectable postseason regular. North Carolina made a Sweet 16 run during its 2024-2025 campaign, the second time doing so in four seasons. The Tar Heels beat Oregon State and West Virginia en route to this year's Sweet 16, before falling to archrival Duke. UNC competes with and knows how to beat the country's top teams, as evidenced by victories last year over ranked Kentucky, Duke, California and NC State squads. North Carolina will start its 2025-2026 season against the best team across women's college basketball. On Tuesday, the Tar Heels announced they will face the South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday, October 30 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. This is the first announcement of any UNC opponent for next season. North Carolina officially kicked off its 2024-2025 slate with a November 4 thrashing of Charleston Southern, so expect a regular-season game to short follow South Carolina this season. The Tar Heels and Gamecocks are no stranger to each other, most recently facing off in the 2023 ACC-SEC Challenge. UNC nearly shocked the college basketball world on that November 30 night, holding a halftime lead, but the eventual NCAA Tournament Champions pulled away for a 65-58 victory. North Carolina will return 10 players from last year's roster, most notably guards Reniya Kelly and Lanie Grant, but says goodbye to the talented leadership trio of Alyssa Ustby, Maria Gakdeng and Lexi Donarski. The Tar Heels will be tested early and, even though their matchup with South Carolina won't count for anything official, can prove they belong amongst the country's top programs with a strong showing. Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
08-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Where Alabama lands in updated USA TODAY Sports early Top 25 college basketball rankings
Alabama basketball hasn't exactly had a dull offseason. The Crimson Tide's nonconference scheduling announcements alone have been noteworthy. Alabama will face marquee programs like Illinois (at United Center in Chicago), St. John's at Madison Square Garden, Gonzaga and UNLV at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, and Arizona in Birmingham. They'll face Clemson in the 2025 ACC-SEC Challenge and potentially host the nation's No. 1 ranked team when the Purdue Boilermakers visit Coleman Coliseum on Nov. 13. On the roster front, coach Nate Oats got a boost when Labaron Philon chose to return to college for his sophomore season rather than hope for a potential second-round NBA draft selection. Philon's return is particularly welcome news since Alabama lost top scorer Mark Sears to graduation. Philon and Aden Holloway will be in the backcourt in both players' second seasons in Tuscaloosa. Former 5-star recruit and Miami Hurricanes guard Jalil Bethea joined Alabama via the transfer portal, and a healthy Latrell Wrightsell Jr. should also be back for 2025-26 after suffering a season-ending injury at the end of November. Alabama also lost top rebounder Grant Nelson and big man Clifford Omoruyi, so two more transfer portal acquisitions in Taylor Bol Bowen (from Florida State) and Noah Williamson (from Bucknell) will look to shore things up in the frontcourt. On Tuesday, USA TODAY Sports' four-person expert panel of Paul Myerberg, Jordan Mendoza, Eddie Timanus, and Erick Smith unveiled their updated early Top 25 rankings on where things stand following the NBA draft and the closing of the transfer portal. Alabama cracked the top 10 at No. 8. While that's down two spots from their previous ranking, the panel hadn't updated their early Top 25 since the day after the Florida Gators defeated Houston for the national championship three months ago. By comparison, Alabama had fallen out of the top 15 in other way-too-early Top 25 rankings, including at ESPN where they'd dipped to No. 24 prior to Philon's decision to withdraw from the draft. Alabama was ranked one spot below BYU in USA TODAY Sports' updated rankings Tuesday, and one spot ahead of Rick Pitino's St. John's. The Crimson Tide will take on the Red Storm on Nov. 8 at Madison Square Garden. Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
01-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida basketball adds further details to 2025 non-conference schedule, nears completion
Florida basketball's nonconference schedule for the upcoming season just got closer to completion with the release of some key details on Tuesday by the program. The Gators open up the 2025-26 campaign in Las Vegas on Nov. 3 against the Arizona Wildcats, after which they play their home-opener on Nov. 6 against the North Florida Ospreys. The annual rivalry game against the Florida State Seminoles falls on Nov. 11 before a neutral-site game that is still to be determined. Florida then hosts the Merrimack Warriors inside the O'Connell Center on Nov. 21 — the night before football hosts the Tennessee Volunteers — before hitting the road for a five-game road swing, including the Thanksgiving tournament in San Diego, the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC-SEC Challenge, and the UConn Huskies in the Jimmy V Classic, plus a game in the state of Florida sill to be announced. A trio of home games against the St. Francis Red Flash, Colgate Raiders and Dartmouth Big Green wrap up the nonconference slate before the Gators open Southeastern Conference play on Jan. 3. Florida basketball's 2025 non-conference schedule Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
16-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Where Florida basketball vs Duke ranks among 16 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge matchups
Where Florida basketball vs Duke ranks among 16 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge matchups The matchups for the 2025 edition of the men's basketball ACC/SEC Challenge were announced last week, with the Florida Gators slated to take on the Duke Blue Devils inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on December 2. This face-off between the Rowdy Reptiles and the Cameron Crazies represents a clash of two titans from the 2024-25 campaign, both of whom made it to the Final Four and were among the top-ranked teams in the nation down the stretch. Both programs also won their respective conference tournament championships last spring as well. So, where does the Florida-Duke matchup stand among the 16 total games in this year's edition of the ACC-SEC Challenge? CBS Sports writer David Cobb ranked every game from top to bottom based on competitive value while also offering his personal prediction. It should come as no surprise to fans of either school that the tussle in the Tar Heel State ranks at the top of that list. "Duke will put its top-ranked high school recruiting class to the test against the reigning national champions in a must-see showdown. On a neutral floor, the Gators and their returning convoy of bigs would be the play. At Cameron Indoor Stadium? Well, that's a different story," Cobb begins. "The Blue Devils have enough veteran savvy to combine with the newbies for what would amount to a critical victory in the ACC's efforts. Duke (+1300) and Florida (+1600) currently have the third- and fourth-best odds, respectively, to win the 2026 NCAA Tournament, according to FanDuel Sportsbook." Cobb picks the Blue Devils to prevail on that early December Tuesday. ACC/SEC Challenge matchup rankings Florida at Duke Louisville at Arkansas North Carolina at Kentucky NC State at Auburn Missouri at Notre Dame Tennessee at Syracuse SMU at Vanderbilt Clemson at Alabama Virginia at Texas Oklahoma at Wake Forest Miami at Ole Miss Texas A&M at Pitt Mississippi State at Georgia Tech Georgia at Florida State LSU at Boston College Virginia Tech at South Carolina Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UNC Basketball face off against Big 12 school in exhibition game
Thanks to another strong incoming high school recruiting class, combined with a significantly-improved transfer portal class, the UNC basketball team has a strong outlook heading into its 2025-2026 season. The crown jewel of North Carolina's 2025 recruiting class is 5-star power forward Caleb Wilson, who committed to Hubert Davis' program in January. Lacking height on their roster last year, the Tar Heels snagged a pair of tall, talented post players in Henri Veesaar and Chapel Hill native Jarin Stevenson. Advertisement We also know a little bit about UNC's schedule, with a few non-conference matchups released for this fall. North Carolina will play both St. Bonaventure and Michigan State in the Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off during Thanksgiving Week, travel to Kentucky for the ACC-SEC Challenge on December 2, then travel to Atlanta (Ga.) for a CBS Sports Classic matchup with Ohio State. On Friday afternoon, the Tar Heels released another teaser for their 2025-2026 schedule: an October 24 exhibition game in Salt Lake City, Utah against the BYU Cougars. BYU, which is coming off a Sweet 16 appearance in March, should be one of the top teams across college basketball this coming season. The Cougars fared well in the transfer portal themselves, but their top roster highlight will be AJ Dybantsa. Ranked the Class of 2025's top recruit, Dybantsa chose BYU over UNC during his recruiting cycle. Advertisement This is the second-consecutive season North Carolina will open its season with a high-profile exhibition matchup. The Tar Heels traveled to face the Memphis Tigers on October 15, 2024, a 84-76 victory highlighted by Seth Trimble's 33-point outburst. Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions. This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball to open season with exhibition against AJ Dybantsa, BYU
