Both the UNC men’s and women’s programs will be traveling to Oregon for the holidays.

The Phil Knight Invitational in Portland announced its brackets for the upcoming event this November. The women’s team will play in a four-team event, along with Iowa State, Michigan State and Oregon.

The team’s first game of the event will come against the Ducks on Thanksgiving Day, November 24. Oregon reached three straight Elite Eights between 2017 and 2019 and advanced to the Final Four in the third of those seasons. The Ducks also reached the Sweet 16 in 2021 and were a No. 5 seed in the tournament 2022, before falling to Belmont in the first round.

The Cyclones are coming off a Sweet 16 appearance of their own in 2022. Iowa State and Carolina were a game away from meeting each other in Greensboro, but each lost their respective Sweet 16 games to South Carolina and Creighton, respectively. Iowa State is also ranked No. 10 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, three spots ahead of the Tar Heels.

Each opponent would be present the first meeting with UNC in the Courtney Banghart Era. Carolina and Michigan State have not met since the the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, when No. 4 seed Carolina defeated the No. 5 seed Spartans. The Tar Heels are 1-1 all-time against Iowa State, having last faced the Cyclones in 2000. UNC is also 1-1 all-time against Oregon. The two teams split a home-and-home series in 2014 and 2015, with the road team winning each time.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

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