ESPN announced Alabama men’s basketball’s official schedule for the 2024 SEC/ACC Men’s Challenge. The Crimson Tide will travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Wednesday, Dec. 4. This marks the third straight season that UNC and Alabama will meet.
This past season, the two programs squared off in the Sweet Sixteen during the NCAA Tournament. The No. 4 seed Crimson Tide narrowly defeated the No. 1 seed Tar Heels by a score of 89-87 en route to the school’s first ever Final Four appearance.
In 2022, the teams played each other in a neutral site regular season game in Portland, Oregon. This matchup saw the Tar Heels ranked No. 1 in the country and Alabama ranked No. 18. The Crimson Tide rode Mark Sears’ 24-point performance to a 103-101 four-overtime upset victory. This win helped cement Alabama as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament later that season.
The schools have met on a total of 15 occasions, with the Tar Heels holding on to a tight 8-7 series lead. However, current Alabama head coach Nate Oats has a 2-1 record versus North Carolina during his time with the Crimson Tide.
The wounds that Oats and his team have inflicted on North Carolina over the past few seasons have had a major impact on the Tar Heels, even leading Elite Eight hero Jarin Stevenson, who went to high school in Chapel Hill, to commit to Alabama rather than his hometown team.
Both teams are in strong positions, and more matchups are on the horizon. It’s possible that fans are starting to see a new cross-conference rivalry brewing between the historic powerhouse UNC and the new juggernaut that is Alabama.
Perhaps nothing shows this rivalry more than what occurred in the Alabama locker room after the win over UNC in the Sweet Sixteen. Oats said, “We’re one win away. And guess what? The fellas at Chapel Hill, they don’t have practice tomorrow.”
The matchups will be streamed on the ACC Network, SEC Network, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. Broadcast destinations and tip-off times will be announced at a late date.
