The Tar Heels have the perfect setting this weekend.
The 12th CBS Sports Classic is Saturday afternoon with Carolina playing the right opponent in the right city: Ohio State in Atlanta.
UNC has the best record of all Sports Classic participants, 7-4, with all four losses to Kentucky against a single win while having beaten the Buckeyes and UCLA in all three matchups with each school.
The Heels have already played (and beaten) the Wildcats, and whenever they are scheduled during the regular season, they never meet in this nationally televised doubleheader. They have still played five times and faced off in what is considered the best-ever game of the event in 2016. The sixth-ranked Wildcats edged No. 7 UNC 103-100 in a Las Vegas thriller despite Justin Jackson’s best college game with 34 points and four 3-pointers, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Three months later, the blue bloods met again in the 2017 NCAA Tournament in one of the best Elite Eight games in Big Dance history on the way to Roy Williams’ third national championship. All together now, can we say Luuuuke Maye?
Carolina also has some good memories against Ohio State.
The inaugural Sports Classic was in December 2014 at the United Center in Chicago. Tar Heel All-American Charlie Scott was in attendance but not to cheer hardest for his alma mater. Scott’s son Shannon was the starting point guard for the 12th-ranked Buckeyes and had 10 points and 9 assists in the 82-74 loss to No. 24 UNC.
Why was Scott’s son playing for Ohio State and not for his dad’s school? He wanted to but Williams already had Marcus Paige and Joel Berry on that team, so Shannon went to Columbus instead of Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels shot 52 percent in the first half, led by 12 points and held to upset the 12th-ranked Buckeyes.
Fast forward to 2022 at Madison Square Garden, Hubert Davis’ favorite arena after the Smith Center. Carolina had four starters back from the Final Four team but had trouble replacing Brady Manek, a one-and-done hero of Tar Heel hoops.
Carolina was behind the Buckeyes by two with a few seconds left in regulation. Assistant coach Jeff Lebo drew up a play for graduate transfer Pete Nance, who caught the inbound pass, turned and made a jumper to send the game to overtime, where UNC won.
Why is Saturday’s 3 p.m. game in the perfect place, the State Farm Arena in Atlanta? Well, that is Tar Heel freshman phenom Caleb Wilson’s hometown, and a huge Carolina fan base will show up to see Wilson’s first appearance in his state capital. The Tar Heels return there on Jan. 31 to face Georgia Tech.
“It’ll be fun,” Wilson said after the win over East Tennessee State. “Honestly, it’s a game I have circled on my calendar, a nice way to come home and show people what I can do.”
Featured image via Associated Press/Julia Nikhinson
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
