West Virginia and North Carolina were rumored to be finalizing a men’s basketball matchup for the upcoming season over the last couple months.
The first meeting in 61 years between the two programs is now official with Thursday’s announcement that the Mountaineers will clash with the Tar Heels in the Dick Vitale Invitational on Friday, November 27 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
“Your players certainly enjoy playing in games like that and you do want to make sure you’re exciting your fan base and giving them something to look forward to early in the season,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said of the Mountaineers’ non-conference schedule during a media session one week ago. “We tried to do that with the games we scheduled.”
WVU has won each of its five previous meetings against UNC, though the two teams last met on New Year’s Eve in 1965.
The Tar Heels finished 24-9 and lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last season. UNC has since hired a new head coach in Michael Malone, former head coach of the Denver Nuggets who helped guide the franchise to a NBA championship in 2023.
The Mountaineers are now assured of playing at least four Atlantic Coast Conference opponents in the 2026-27 season as they will meet UNC and Wake Forest at neutral settings in North Carolina, while also playing host to Virginia Tech and at Pittsburgh.
There is a possibility WVU plays a fifth ACC team as well. The Mountaineers are assured of taking on Notre Dame, Houston, Rutgers or Florida in their third and final game of the Players Era 8 in November.