Can the North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team maintain their dominance without Armando Bacot? With a new season on the horizon, the Tar Heels are poised for a transformation under Hubert Davis, who led them to an ACC regular season title last year. This episode explores the potential shift to a faster, perimeter-focused style, spotlighting key players like RJ Davis, an All-American candidate, and promising freshmen Ian Jackson and Drake Powell. The projected starting lineup, including Elliot Cadeau and Jalen Washington, faces a challenging non-conference schedule with matchups against Kansas, Alabama, and UCLA. Despite concerns about frontcourt depth, the backcourt's talent and experience offer hope for a strong NCAA tournament run. Join us for an in-depth look at the Tar Heels' strategies and season projections. Listen now for exclusive insights into the team's evolving dynamics and expectations.
Join the Locked On College Basketball Discord: https://discord.gg/bsKxDp8Qqb
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-college-basketball/
For your next listen, check out the Locked On College Football podcast! From NIL deals to never ending conference realignment rumors, Spencer McLaughlin gets you ready for an exciting season on the gridiron! Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
ROY
Download Roy for iOS or Android and enter referral code LOCKED ON and you’ll automatically be entered into a sweepstakes to win $5,000 cash. Visit JoinRoy.com for additional details. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited. Get off the sidelines and into the NIL game with Roy.
Robinhood
Robinhood Gold provides the privileges of a high net worth for any net worth. These generous benefits are now available for only $5/month. The new gold standard is here with Robinhood Gold.Sign up at robinhood.com/gold
Terms apply, for product specific disclosures visit robinhood.com/gold. Investing involves risk. Rate may change. Gold membership is offered by Robinhood Gold, LLC.
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.
5-Hour ENERGY
Go to 5hourENERGY.com and use promo code LOCKEDONCFB to receive 20% off your order. This offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is not good on subscription orders. Go to 5hourENERGY.com today!
eBay Motors
From brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.
FanDuel
Now through September 22nd, ALL FanDuel customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get a THREE WEEK free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. North Carolina is coming off of a one seed and returns consensus for his team all-American RJ Davis. But are we about to get a new Look Tar Heels team in the post-bacot era? You are Lockdown College Basketball, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, what's up? Welcome in to the Lockdown College Basketball Podcast, the only daily national college hoop show out there. I'm your host, Isaac Shade, and you're joining me at the place to get your college basketball content every single day. Thanks so much for making us part of your first listen or watch. In this episode, as every episode is coming at you ad-free as well on Amazon Music. Special shout out to all the every day you're joining us and all the great members of the Lockdown College Basketball Discord. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandall. Right now, through September 22, all Fandall customers can get $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit Fandall.com to get started. We are carrying on today with our team previews ahead of the 24/25 season. We've already done in Tucky, Kansas, Gonzaga, Alabama, Iowa State, Creighton, Baylor and Duke. And now, we go to Chapel Hill and the North Carolina Tar Heels. Here to help me do so is none other than our guy, Riley Davis. Riley is great to be here, you know, for those who don't know. I also host locked on Tar Heels in addition to this show. Usually I kind of hide, not hide, but just don't let it go out. But we have two unapologetic Tar Heels today on the show. We will be as fair and as balanced as humanly possible. Riley, I think, you know, honestly, we're probably the ones who are going to undersell this program more than anything. So buckle up for that. Let me quick you run you all through what happened last year and then we'll get into some storylines. Tar Heels last year, 29 and 8 in overall, 17 and 3 in the ACC regular season champs. One seed in the NCAA tournament, finished 9th at Ken Palm and Torvick, 8th in the net and at Evan Mia. And it was the defense, oddly enough, that was the calling card last year. Armando Baycott rides off into the sunset as I'm leading rebounder at Carolina. And now we turn our attention to a third straight fifth year player from Leaky Black to Armando Baycott and now RJ Davis. But before we get to RJ, Riley, here's my first question for us. Coming in the last season, if you'll recall, there was hot seat talk about Hubert Davis coming off a season in which the Tar Heels missed the NCAA tournament. I think that was firmly swashed in the ground like a bug. Why did that happen? And is there any reason for any more of that talk? First off, let me say I would never, ever, ever criticize our head basketball coach. I would have never been skeptical of our third year frontman or yeah, our frontman entering his third season. Yeah, I was a pretty big skeptic after last year, just how could you not be? Of course, that first season was electric with the tournament run, but there was half a season of mediocre basketball before that followed by a very, very disappointing like just disaster of a year that was not fun to watch, was not fun to track, with just almost zero redeeming qualities of that season. You know, then he completely retools a roster at Inheris and Ingram and Cormac Ryan most notably, which I remember at the time, I thought like, you know, those two players project to starters, but I don't really know what else UNC is going to get beyond that. I thought they still needed that like a more clear, I guess just a more clear proven commodity. I mean, this was something like it's crazy to look back on it, but we just didn't know what RJ Davis was going to be as the go to guy in the back court, which that's where I got to tap my chest and say my bad on down in you, Hubert. You have squashed my skepticism, that's for sure. I think like just in terms of the, all the like typical like cliche stuff that coaches say with toughness and culture that like, you know, we can kind of poke fun at pod as podcasters, but ultimately does carry a good bit of importance. I think he's great at that. He's clearly got the guys buying and I thought whatever he like the different schematic shifts he made defensively to get them to get them where they need to be, to be a top 10 unit with when you look at the personnel, they had no business being there when you had, I would say Armando, an elite interior defender, Harrison elite defender at the college level when he had the pieces around him, but still you had a small back court and, but he somehow found a way to like, I think that's a huge coaching win. Of course, played really well in big games. You think you could look back at the, I mean that that Wake Forest went at home when Wake was coming in hot, like they're trying to get over the hump with Hunter Salas looking like an ACC player of the year, Canada and I think the game UNC was down one at halftime, outscored Wake by 20 in the second half. Like that was kind of when I knew that team could be special and then it just continued throughout conference play into the postseason, you know the two Duke wins of course, Alabama loss still crushing to this day, but I think we saw a lot to like about Hubert just from how he runs his team with schematically, personally I'd like to see them push the pace a little bit more on offense. Maybe we get that this year, but defense was, I mean the best UNC defense since the championship team in 2017 and I just think he's an elite culture guy as well and I hope that Carolina continues to reap the benefits of that. So Riley, let's get into what you just said there about the possibility of a more up-tempo style. Where's some young bucks? We can get out and run a little bit. No, I'm just kidding. I'm 40, y'all. I'm done and I will pop in the Achilles the second I'd take off. But legitimately, I sent it in the cold open there about, you know, this is a new post Armando Baycott era. Literally, it's been half a decade since that man was not manning the front court, which is funny because the manning cast is on in the background behind me. But in this new era where Armando Baycott is gone, where North Carolina struck out again and again and again and again and again and again and again and trying to replace him through the transfer portal, it's almost like out of necessity the Tar Heels are going to have to turn to a different style of play. Is that your expectation for North Carolina this year? Hashtag no centers. Playcade Tyson at the five. I think in some capacity, man, because like you didn't, Armando wasn't really the type of big. You'd give the ball to on the block, you know, you'd run ball screens with them, let him eat on the offensive glass. I guess they ran some secondary stuff for him last year. They got him some easy looks under the basket, but it's not like, it's not like, he wasn't like 100 Dickinson type player where you're letting him, you know, ISO, honestly from beyond the three point line or go ISO in the mid post and go to work. So I don't think it's going to be, you know, it's not like there's, the team will still play through its guards, which I mean, it played through RJ Davis last year. But I'm most fascinated to see, you know, if you're, if you're playing Jalen Washington at the five, assuming he starts, how much of a five out scheme are they really going to instill? Washington was really good as a roll man off of ball screens. Like he, he was more physical, tougher in the paint than I think people expected him to be. Yeah. I love his face up game. I'm a little more like bearish on his three point shot than I think most UNC fans are at this point to where I think you can try some five out stuff with him and see how it goes. But it might be more like, he made eight threes last year, very like 53% from beyond the art, but a very, very small sample size. I think it's, you know, hopefully there are some plenty of possessions where like no one is in the paint. That'd be fun to see. But I don't know, man, I feel like while Washington is still just such a wild card for what his strengths actually are. Can he play more than like, can he even get to 20 minutes a game this year? I think UNC needs him to, but yeah. And I think that's a good point about, are we going to see a lot of baby blue paint open and up where as, as people inside and outside the North Carolina program, no, this is a program typically built upon reliable back-to-the-basket bigs like Sean May, who is an assistant coach. And I think that's why so many people are just so uncertain about what this Tar Heel's team is going to be, because there isn't that. And you know, we saw, for example, camp scrimmages from this summer, and it was to your point. It was just a wide open lane with all these driving opportunities, driving dick, whatever it is you want to do, pick and roll action and whatever, that that lane is going to be wide open. And Carolina, which as you said, has the strength in the backcourt, is hopefully going to be able to utilize that with a different approach schematically this year. Now Riley, though, to that question, RJ Davis is going to be RJ Davis, right? We expect another ridiculous season like he had last year, maybe even some new wrinkles in his game. But the big question for me with that is his backcourt mate Elliot Kidot, who had a solid freshman year, but clearly has a lot to work on, particularly in terms of shooting. I think that's the big thing that people are watching out for. Do you think Riley that Elliot Kidot was going to be able to make enough of a jump to really make this backcourt as elite as we all hope and think it will be? It's a good question, I think the biggest jump doesn't even need to be like scoring in double figures. I think he just needs to make 30 to 35% of his threes, because I think the best version of this UNC team is going to be RJ Davis and Ian Jackson as your bucket getters. I think the best version of UNC will be Ian Jackson as the second leading scorer and Elliot averaging 9 to 10 points a game and something like 6, 7 assists, maybe 8 if we really want to push it. I mean that's averaging that many assists in college basketball game is tough, but I think a 9 and 7 type year from Elliot would be exactly what UNC needs. As long as he's like honestly not just a catch and shoot threat, but able to create a little bit off the bounce and knock down some threes off the dribble as well. I think that would really give this backcourt some juice, because yeah, we don't have any questions about RJ. Honestly, I don't really have any questions about Ian. There's going to probably be some crazy Ian Jackson games where he shoots like four for 16, probably in the non-con as he's getting used to it, but I just think that kid is special. I think he's built different. He's been a top five recruit like pretty much for as long as he was in the high school ranks. Those types of dudes are wired differently. And I think even seeing him at those camp scrimmages, I mean, yes, he took some contested step back threes, but they went in like I just like the way he was when he was cooking RJ was feeding him, right? Like that's the right is that RJ is not going to be afraid to let that rip. So that that'll be good to see. So Riley, I want to talk more about this. You started getting into some Ian Jackson, and you know, we're going to have to talk about him and his fellow freshman Drake Powell. I want to try to figure out which one of them is going to be more impactful for Carolina this season. And boy, we need to make some predictions for our starting lineup. We're going to get to all of that coming up in just a second right after I tell you about Roy. Hey, college basketball fans. Have you heard about Roy? It stands for return on you, and it's a brand new platform that lets you the fans get involved in NIL like never before by making contributions directly to your favorite athletes. By supporting players directly, you can help shape rosters, retain talent, and keep your favorite athletes out of the transfer portal. NIL has changed the game for athletes, while Roy is changing the NIL game for fans. Why use Roy? Let me give you one example, exclusive content access. When fans contribute to a successful campaign, you receive access to exclusive content from the athletes, such as their announcement decisions, behind the scenes footage and other personal reflections. It's a great opportunity. So download Roy for iOS or Android and enter referral code locked on, and you'll automatically be entered into a sweepstakes to win $5,000 cash. Again join Roy.com for additional details, no purchase necessary, voidware prohibited. Get the Roy app for iOS or Android and start making an impact on your favorite team. Again use referral code locked on for an opportunity to win $5,000 cash. Join Roy.com for more details, no purchase necessary voidware prohibited. Get off the sidelines and into the NIL game with Roy. You know, we love talking stats here at locked on. Here's one that's super simple to remember. Discover automatically doubles the cash back you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cash back match. That means with discover, you could turn $150 cash back to $300. That's right, you could put it towards some memorabilia you've had your eye on or treat yourself to a premium sports network. You earn and discover doubles. See terms at discover.com/creditcard. Alright, Riley, let's turn our attention now more specifically to North Carolina's personnel, both who's coming, who's staying and who's left and all of that and we're going to make some projections on the roster. Now I want to try to figure out which of these two high level freshmen is going to be more important for this year's team. So the returners include two starters we've already talked about at RJ Davis and Elliot Kidot. They were projected to be four other returners to this team, Jalen Washington, Seth Trimble, who entered the transfer portal and came back and Jalen Withers. And then also Zaden Hye, who we recently found out will actually not be with the team this year. So five returners and then you get three Portlanders Kate Tyson from Belmont, Van Allen Lubin, from Vanderbilt, all these smart Tennessee schools and then Ty Klod over from Georgia Tech and the dynamic freshman Ian Jackson and Drake Powell and Mr. James Brown as well. As for the subtractions, the big names to know obviously where the other three starters are Mondo Baycott, Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan alongside Paxson Wojcick and the only transfer last year, James a con quo who heads off to be a zip in back, Ohio, Riley Davis. I want to know your projection for the starting five out of that group of 11 scholarship players. Do you want me to answer with my head or my heart? I want you to and I actually want both. I want you to answer, whichever one of those is like what you think Hubert Davis will be. And then the other one that's I guess probably your heart. The one that I think probably happens and I would even venture to guess would be the day one starting lineup at Elon or against home against Elon would be Elliot at the one RJ at the two Ian at the three Kate Tyson at the four Jalen Washington at the five. With my heart my heart says it's going to be kiddo at the one RJ the two Ian at the three Drake pal at the four. I don't care who's at the five probably Jalen Withers. I just like one through four. I think Withers catching lives blocking some shots doing athletic things and yeah probably just you know effective but small role offensively would be and you let the other four guys cook a little bit would probably the most fun lineup in the one that I could easily see being like the closing closing one for you and see yeah and that's a good point there because so often Riley we all focus our attention on a starting five when more often than not it's the closing five that really truly is the thing that matters. So folks don't just watch for that starting quintet make sure you're watching for who's going to get us out of here in the final minutes of the game. Riley I'm really intrigued by the way your lineup of what you think Hubert Davis will do is the exact same of what I think Hubert Davis will do Elliot RJ Ian Cade and Jay Wash. I'm really intrigued and haven't put much thought into the other lineup you mentioned and let's just go one through four as you said with having both freshmen in the starting lineup that's a potentiality I haven't really considered because any time I've thought about it I've said Elliot kiddo RJ Davis either Ian Jackson or Drake Powell, Kate Tyson and Jalen Washington so talk to me talk to me and talk to us more about having both of those guys in your starting five. They're the two pros I mean I think they're the only two guys on this roster you can say for sure we'll play in the NBA I think RJ and Elliot will both get shots I've got on the record on podcast before I say and I think Elliot can know it gets drafted like I could see him being a second round pick but you're looking at two dudes who were projected first rounders and I think you know the a lot is made about like the lack of size that this UNT team has and for good reason I would love for Carolina have a seven footer or at least a dude who's six eleven who can block shots and rebound that would be sick would make me very happy but just looking at the sport over the last few years there are plenty of teams that run guys at the four who are like six six six seven that's not going to be that big a great example yeah he's six I mean Ingram six seven I know Ingram was like super well built to but I even go back to like that Kansas state team who made the sweet 16 team who made the sweet 16 with Marquis Noel I'm pretty sure their four was like Cam Carter who's six three they ran like for that I'm almost positive they ran four guards around Nick want Tomlin at the at the five so we're like we've seen teams find success this way before oh maybe I was key on to be on say Johnson was kind of nominal for six six anyway same difference six six still that's the point I'm trying to make it's doable that's what we need to know and I just think it's it's only a matter of time before Hubert realizes well I just don't even need to put it that way he probably already knows like it's only a matter of time before it's like my strength is in these perimeter guys my strength is having to pro pros on my roster to go with a fifth year all American like yes I'm going to play them together and like who knows what Drake pile is like as a rebounder I haven't watched enough of him to say I can attest that he I think will be the best defender on the team and that includes Seth Trimble that's my hot take I love that it's not a slight towards Seth but I think Drake is just different plus he can create out of ball screens a little bit like you put a you let him like that that's gonna create mashup problems if you put the ball in his hands yeah I'm a huge Drake pal fan and I just think eventually it gets to point where it's like let's just play the four best players together and then fine whichever big is gonna play the best defense and rebound the best and then let's rock out because that's the thing is like with whoever's playing the five it's not that they have to be phenomenal they just have to be serviceable they just have to not be you know below replacement level player right because if your strength is in your back court and your less strength is in your front court you know what you gotta fit I don't care what conventional basketball wisdom is you got to figure out a way to to utilize that strength and I think what you're suggesting Riley would play into that so let me ask you this question because you talked about these two pros pros and I think you're spot on with it I'm not gonna hear me not asking us to answer the question which of these two guys is the better basketball player both short or long term what I want to ask is which of Ian Jackson and Drake Powell is more important for this team okay so I want to give a shout out to two of your regular guests here Pat Kilby and coach Rob Bill Robinson because I feel like both of them would very much have the the coach head on here and talk about how Drake does all the little things does all the hustle plays best defender connective guy who does things that don't show up on the stat sheet well guess what I am not a coach and Ian Jackson is nice and sometimes it comes down to that boy nice and he's a bucket he's gonna be more impactful I love both though I love both Ian and Drake I'm so excited to watch them oh but yeah I think Ian's gonna be more incredible just because he puts the round orange thing and the ten foot thing and I hot also a hot take in order to win this game of orange hoopy shoot with each basket you gotta be the dude who puts that round orange thing in the ten foot thing more often than the other and so I think ultimately at the end of the day because of that because of his offensive threat that can come in bunches as you were talking about earlier you know what else that does that opens things up for RJ Davis a lot more that opens things up for Elliot could owe a lot more and Kate Tyson to just rain threes from wherever he wants to or Drake to do what he's doing maybe even gives Jay wash opportunities to do what he needs to do a little more effectively because of the sheer scoring threat that Ian Jackson is and so you know Riley I was coming here ready to say Drake Powell is my answer but I'm gonna get on board with you but I told you give me some IP give me some iJax as well which I've never called him until this moment but I kind of like it and I don't know if it's gonna stick from here or not but well he's already Captain Jack which is a pretty sick thing though yes Captain Jack is tough to beat it helped to beat Captain Jack honestly and he runs into it really well all right Riley we gotta get to talking schedule in our schedule predictions this is a loaded loaded non-conference schedule before you even think about getting to ACC play the Tar Heels are gonna be very well prepared once they get into those conference games we're gonna unpack that in just a second right after I tell you about Fandal you've heard me talk a lot about Fandal the summer America's number one sports book and this summer Fandal has been giving you a boost or a bonus daily man for getting in on the action I got something a little bit different for you from fan but Fandal because right now through September 22 all fan dual customers can bet five dollars and get a three week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV and then with the YouTube TV base plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of market game all you need is a Google account in a current form of payment and you can cancel at any time how about some wooden award odds Riley while we're talking the Tar Heels because of course RJ Davis is right up in the midst of this thing 100 Dickinson leads the way at plus 550 followed by RJ Davis and Mark Sears who will face off yet again in this season at plus 600 right behind 100 Dickinson followed by Caleb Blove ironically enough Angie and I broom from Auburn at plus 1600 rounding it out as our homie Cam Jones from Marquette at plus 2200 so if you want to get in on any of that action or get this NFL Sunday ticket opportunity visit fandal.com/locked on to download America's number one sports book decisions decisions wait a minute are you still looking for cars on Carvana yeah decisions decisions when I use Carvana I found the exact car I was looking for in minutes bought it on the spot electric or full diesel decision come on you've been at it for weeks just by it already you're right crossover it is decisions decided whether you know exactly what you want or like to take your time by your car the convenient way with Carvana Riley we're gonna move into talking about the schedule now but one thing I do want to make sure we just hit on and mention that is kind of a wild flip from last off season to this off season last off season North Carolina lost approximately 8.27 million players to the transfer portal I mean technically seven all right Caleb Love, Puff Johnson, Don Trist Styles, Tyler Nickel, DeMarco Dunn, Justin McCoy, and Will Shaver the pride of Birmingham, Alabama plus Simeon Wiltshire decommitting and winding up at St. John's this year as I mentioned earlier the Tar Heels and Hubert Davis only lost one one transfer to the transfer portal this year and that was James a con quo who God bless him from coming from West Virginia the year before just wasn't going to matter yet again on this team and so I love him getting the opportunity to go to Akron where hopefully you can get a little bit more run what does that comedy do to help set up and this is kind of leading into the non-conference schedule being a more cohesive team as you get right into non-conference play here it's a great question for one I got to give some love to James I love James I talked to him at media day last year great vibes we talked about UK rap music which was definitely a lot of season for me I had high hopes for him I thought for sure he was going to be just like a great backup to Armando anyway sometimes you miss in this business but that's a great question because I think like the continent I don't know man because like some of the returners just didn't play that much exactly like Jalen Withers this has been a discussion in the wash-on-tar hills discord before like there was that stretch of games in mid February where he played single-digit minutes I think six of seven games or five of six games or something like that and I know his minutes got a little more regular but he still was I think like 12 minutes per game on the season Seth I think was 16 17 on the season Washington was eight on the season to where it's nice to have like I think it's good to have to have like a set tremble type and even you know Withers is kind of seen it all from being on a four-win team to being on a one-seat and like less than 365 days and he's old I mean he's in a six year played a ton of college basketball yeah yeah I think those guys kind of knowing what it takes to get to that level helps I just am not sure how much when outside of RJ and LA they were all bench guys and that's that's the point I'm wanting to get to there is more continuity but again outside of RJ and Elliot not a lot of continuity that played a lot of minutes partly because Hubert Davis just doesn't typically play his bench much if at all in his three seasons you ready for this Riley his first year used his bench 19.8% of the time 348th in D1 2022 23 18.3% of the time that was 360th in Division 1 and last year Hubert Davis finally cracked 20% usage of his bench 22.6% all the way up to 332nd in the nation so really curious to see this year how Hubert Davis will use the bench depth that he has will we see it go beyond a top seven or a top eight and get into using guys like yeah I mean there's just lots of possibilities there and so we will see what happens but here we go Riley non-conference schedule Carolina is going to have three preseason opportunities to see them in action the blue white scrimmage on Sunday October 13th a charity exhibition at FedEx forum where Carolina last played when Luke May was sent in Kentucky home in 2017 that's Tuesday October 15th and then hosting Johnson C Smith on Sunday October 27th but the key non-con games I'm not going to bother with the buy games but Carolina is at Kansas on Friday November 8th that's Friday the first week of the season by the way hits a true road game at Hawaii on the way out to Maui that's not a high level non-con game but it is a true road game so I want to mention it and then the three games at Maui start with Dayton on Monday November 25th then either Auburn or Iowa State in around through the next day that's going to be legit and then wrapping Maui up with either Yukon Michigan State Memphis or Colorado the other than notable non-con games Wednesday December 4th hosting Alabama dear goodness the Tar Heels need to get a win over Alabama in the ACC SEC championship ACC SEC Challenge excuse me that'd be fun and ACC SEC Championship at the end of the year I'm here for it we just stumbled into that then Tuesday December 17th against Florida in the Jumpman Invitational and the other notable non-con game is Saturday December 21st against UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic up at the world's most famous arena Madison Square Garden Riley what do you make of this non-conference slate man I kind of want to give you some bold predictions as I look about this we I know we are just going to talk about our our projections I want to get into the games all ready and give you some analysis uh let's see okay let's start Elon Easy Dub at Kansas a hundred Dickinson might foul out all four of our big men that's my bullet I think Kansas wins unfortunately handedly like I just need Carolina to keep it close first I know that's a loser's mentality but yeah 30 minutes give me 30 minutes of good ball of like giving me hope and then let Kansas pull away and I can at least say okay we got some gonna work with um let's see from there American that's a win at Hawaii I hate that they scheduled that game because I just wish we would duck a little bit of smoke with how hard the schedule is if people don't know about Marcus Green Hawaii's point guard Houston Christian transfer let me tell you no I'm just messing around I don't know anything about him I'm just looking at their roster right now uh kind of looking at the makeup of of Hawaii even though it's on the road I like even their front court is very slow and unatholic from what I've seen to where I think yeah I know people malign you in these front court woes this year that should not be an issue even on the road against a pretty solid mid-major um Maui is the one where like as we were doing our projections for this I'll go ahead and say I had uh I have Carolina going 9 and 3 in the non-con got very very close to picking 10 and 2 I think there's a chance that Carolina just loses at Kansas wins Maui I think it's a great draw for UNC and then I like them to be Alabama at home I just think UNC is due you that game like go back to the Tennessee game last year the the the Dean Dome was an incredible atmosphere like one of the best atmospheres I've ever seen um and it just it seems like a type of game that like I just like you and seeing that spot home game after Thanksgiving where they're ready to set like to show that hey it's still UNC here I know we've had some recruiting woes but like we still have one of the two or three best players in the country I'm really high on Alabama as like a top three top five team they have a lot of new pieces to integrate as well to where I think there's a chance you can get them before they fully um was sort of looking for like materialized into what very well could be a juggernaut by the season's end um but then if they be Alabama I think they drop a dumb game to either Florida UCLA probably Florida I think UCLA kind of stinks you and I could see UNC winning that game by double digits but Tarhill fans will be familiar this name Sky Clark goes off for like 25 or 30 but it doesn't really matter um yeah uh that's kind of what Sky Clark did at Louisville but just gonna have better pieces around him to where I think UNC gets that one done but might might drop one to Florida or something okay so ultimately Riley you're landing on a nine and three non-con yeah I say they lose one in Maui um again with my heart I think they have a good chance to win it but just with the questions in the front core I'm a little bit hesitant to fully say like yeah they they're gonna go with Maui that's almost exactly where my head went with all this I have a nine and three non-con as well with losing it Alabama like sorry losing at Kansas probably dropping one at Maui and then just as you set a hiccup somewhere which is kind of hard for the course uh as a reminder then Carolina will have 20 ACC games the home and road opponents always Duke always state and then this your pit is one of them home only BC cow Georgia Tech Miami SMU Stanford UVA road only Clemson Florida State Louisville Notre Dame Q's Virginia Tech and Wake Riley I know we don't have the time or scope to go through all 20 games but how do you see that playing out yeah I have Carolina going 14 and 6 um road losses I bet they probably lose at Clemson lose at Wake lose at Louisville those are three that I'm like if they can go thinking when one of those I would consider that like a success a nice triumph yeah probably lose at Duke as well maybe they lose at pit I think they probably drop one dumb game maybe it's at pit or something that's like dude seriously um this team has sort of given us but hopefully not pit yeah hopefully not pit the home only games BC cow Georgia Tech Miami SMU Stanford UVA you should win all six of those in cover oh yeah seven maybe my maybe Miami oh sorry yeah seven maybe Miami they have some really nice guards but like they probably won't be able to guard anybody uh like you should be able to protect the crib pretty well yeah yeah 100 percent so ultimately uh I'm I'm going 15 and 5 in ACC play for a regular season total of 24 in 8 for the Tar Heels and look that might be a little bit optimistic but I think all these back court pieces figure it out as the season goes on and I think for me that's good enough for the Tar Heels to be the back-to-back regular season ACC chance and I know it's going to be tough to get over all that Duke talent but I think Carolina's experience ultimately wins the day over over that with Duke I have Carolina going 14 and 6 and finishing second I do have Duke winning I know Duke never wins the ACC regular season but I think that the talent gap is just pretty clearly ahead of the rest of the ACC doesn't mean I think they probably split with UNC with the actual games but man if you look at the ACC as a whole even Carol like I feel pretty confident UNC's talents talent like that's the second most talented team in the the league but it's just it's the hole at the five you know we don't know what we're gonna get Louisville I think is the that's my third team I they're almost the reverse of UNC their wings and their their front court I think it's gonna be really good but I have a ton of questions about the back court um I'm not a chucky Hepburn guy at all I think yes I think they could have done a lot better um especially now you like all the NIL funds that are coming into that program but uh I think um gosh dudes forgetting his name the jam you transfer at Louisville Terrence er Terrence Edward yeah I think I think Terrence Edwards and uh Case and Prior are I like Case and Prior they're both probably like five times better than anyone Louisville had on the roster last year like they just completely clear anybody it's I mean yes Louisville the past two years was a dumpster fire but to just have two guys out the gate who are gonna be breath of fresh air who are just light years ahead of anybody who played in the Kenny Payne era um yeah I think that's gonna be a big boon for them all right so ultimately based on Carolina's record I have them rally finishing as getting a two seed in the NCAA tournament not quite as good as last year I think that that brutal non-con will kind of hurt him a little bit record-wise and I think second weekend is the goal for these North Carolina North Hills just so hard to say yeah this is a whatever team just because of the unpredictability of the tournament but I would say uh elite eight is a great uh thing to aim for for this team rally where do you have the tour hills landing in the NCAA tournament so I said a three seed um it's like I feel like I've been skeptical or just like a pessimistic UNC fan over the past six months but then I look at the schedule like they give it a lot of games of the ACC and if you throw in non-con wins over let's say you get one at Bama uh let's say you get if you beat one of like you beat Auburn or Iowa State if you throw in a U-con win like those those wins are all going to age really well um to where it's like maybe like three is pretty reasonable might even be too low um yeah I but I still feel like the the front court issues bite them in like the sweet 16 I would say sweet 16 finish all right love it all right that's your North Carolina Tar Hills preview folks stay tuned tomorrow Andy Patton my co-host will be joined by our great Houston host Parker Ainsworth and so we'll get our Houston Cougars team preview on tomorrow show make sure to stay tuned for that if you haven't subscribed to the show on video and audio you are missing out and you don't want to miss a second make sure you subscribe if you haven't joined the lockdown college basketball discord man we would love to have you in there as well it's free to join the link for that is in the show notes as always I want to say apologies to the lawyer family let's go Wildcats and until tomorrow and big thanks to our guy Riley Davis. A Prime members you can listen to this lock-down podcast add free on Amazon music download the Amazon music app today
