Men's basketball schedule released

The ACC released its basketball schedule Tuesday, listing the dates of all games for North Carolina and the rest of the conference.

But unusual in the 2009-2010 schedule for UNC are the number of tipoff times listed as “To Be Announced.”

And while 27 of UNC’s 31 games this season have television networks lined up to broadcast them, four games do not — as opposed to the typical one or two TBA’s on the schedule

Basketball in the ACC is a highly televised enterprise. This year, ACC teams will make 162 appearances on national television networks, including 118 on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, 35 on Fox Sports Net and seven on CBS.

While the ACC decides the conference schedule, each team compiles its own non-conference schedule, and the ACC’s TV partners choose from those games.

“The TV partners from the conference have not completed their game choices yet,” Gallo said.

“All this stuff, for the most part, is driven by TV deciding whether they’re going to televise and broadcast it or not. And it just seems to be a little bit more this year than in years past.”

Two of North Carolina’s non-conference games are listed with times to be announced: Valparaiso on Nov. 15 and College of Charleston on Jan. 4. Neither game has a network broadcast listed.

Two other games that are scheduled to be televised may not find a network willing to broadcast: a game against Albany on Dec. 30 and against Presbyterian College on Dec. 12.

UNC has asked to play the game against Albany at 7:30 p.m., and according to Senior Associate Athletic Director Larry Gallo, UNC will play at that time, television or not.

The game against Presbyterian College falls on an exam day, and Gallo said UNC would not play before 7:30 p.m.

“It would be totally inappropriate to play a game in the afternoon when other students have exams,” Gallo said. “That’s not the way we do things around here. If it’s not on TV, so be it.”

The game at College of Charleston is TBA because the Southern Conference, of which Charleston is a part, is still working out which TV networks will air which games — much like the ACC.

Those games aside, few teams have as many games against marquee teams in with high potential audiences as North Carolina.

In the formidable ACC, UNC takes on Wake Forest and Duke twice and travels to Maryland, where the Tar Heels fell in overtime last year.

 UNC also travels to Rupp Arena to face Kentucky and to Arlington, Texas to play the University of Texas in the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium.

To top it off, the Tar Heels are slated to appear in a preseason tournament that could pit them against either California or Syracuse in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

And while those high-profile games are bound to bring TV contracts, UNC also plays several smaller teams from North Carolina, such as Gardner Webb, N.C. Central University and an exhibition against Division-II Belmont Abbey.

“Coach Williams is going to schedule the way that he thinks is most advantageous for our team and our fans, realizing that we cannot play the likes of Michigan State, Kentucky and Duke every time we step on the court,” Gallo said.


Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.