Tar Heels poised for dominant ACC opener as Florida State struggles defensively and historically falters against UNC.
North Carolina (12-1)'s ACC Opener Against Florida State (7-6) Appears To Be A Mismatch.
The UNC basketball team is perfectly set up to open its ACC conference schedule with a victory.
Sure, beating the No. 12 ranked Tar Heels inside the Smith Center would be a tall task for almost any team across the nation. However, the odds will be a lot longer for the Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday night.
Even though FSU possesses a winning record, it is 0-5 against high-major competition (plus a loss to a UMass) this season. But the team's struggles go well beyond record.The sorting tool the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses is called the NET rankings.
The Seminoles currently rank 129th in the NET. That ranks them 16th in the ACC out of 18 schools. FSU senior Robert McCray, who started his career in the ACC at Wake Forest before transferring to Tallahassee from Jacksonville University, is the team's leading scorer at just 13.5 points per game.
Relatedly, FSU is dead last in the ACC in scoring defense by allowing an average of 78.3 points. Conversely, the Tar Heels are second in the league in that category at 63.5 opposing points per game.
The Seminoles are led by first-year coach and former player Luke Loucks. He takes over after Leonard Hamilton spent 23 years leading the program.
To put Hamilton's tenure in perspective, Tuesday will mark the first time UNC has faced the Seminoles without "Coach Ham" on the sideline since Feb. 17, 2002. That was during the worst season in Tar Heel basketball history, where Matt Doherty finished 8-20.
However, UNC beat FSU that day. The Seminoles were one of two ACC teams that the Tar Heels beat that season.
While we're traveling down memory lane, UNC will ride a six-game winning streak in the head-to-head series into this week's ACC opener. FSU's last victory was in the 2021 ACC Tournament semifinal in Greensboro.
The Tar Heels have also won eight straight home games in the series. The Seminoles' most recent win at the Smith Center was in 2010.
Tip-off for the next chapter of the FSU-UNC series is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday night. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.