"Most embarrasing schedule I've ever seen" "Weak": Fans react as Hubert Davis' UNC reveals non-conference matchups for 2025-26 season

North Carolina coach Hubert Davis had a less-than-stellar season leading the Tar Heels to a first-round exit in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, which they barely managed. The Tar Heels finished with a 23-14 overall and 13-7 conference record.

On Saturday, the Tar Heels released their non-conference schedule ahead of a crucial fifth season for embattled coach Davis and his team. UNC will play 13 non-ACC and two exhibition games against Winston-Salem at home and the BYU Cougars on the road.

The schedule will include a marquee ACC-SEC Challenge game against the Kentucky Wildcats at the Rupp Arena and a home clash against the Kansas Jayhawks.

UNC's schedule is as follows:

Nov. 3 Central Arkansas

Nov. 7 Kansas

Nov. 11 Radford

Nov. 14 NC Central

Nov. 18 Navy

Nov. 25 St. Bonaventure - Fort Myers Tip-Off, Suncoast Credit Union Arena, Florida

Nov. 27 Michigan State - Fort Myers Tip-Off, Suncoast Credit Union Arena, Florida

Dec. 2 @ Kentucky - ACC-SEC Challenge, Rupp Arena

Dec. 7 Georgetown

Dec. 13 USC Upstate

Dec. 16 East Tennessee State

Dec. 20 Ohio State - CBS Sports Classic, State Farm Arena, Atlanta

Dec. 22 East Carolina

College basketball fans on X had mixed reactions to the non-conference schedule Hubert Davis' team will play next season.

Some fans pointed out the soft nature of the non-conference schedule.

"Weak Schedule ... don't like it," one tweeted. "I think NC State and UNC swapped non-conference schedules. This is the softest UNC schedule I've seen in ages," another tweeted. "This is the most embarrassing schedule I’ve ever seen," one tweeted.

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Hubert Davis credited with building UNC roster like OKC

During this week's segment of the Locked on Tar Heels podcast, analyst Pac Kilby credited Hubert Davis with building next season's North Carolina Tar Heels' roster akin to reigning NBA champions OKC Thunder.

“They (OKC) have that positionless style, they have length everywhere, one possession it might be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bringing it up, the next it could be JDub (Jalen Williams), the next it could be Caruso, the next it could be Wallace,” Kilby said. “I could see Carolina adopting a similar strategy. Kyan Evans, who we project to be the starting point guard for North Carolina, he’s really kind of a combo guard to be honest about it. The way we’ve changed our roster, I think there’s a world where we go heavy on the length and play more of a positionless basketball and it’s more free flowing.”

Hubert Davis returned only Seth Trimble from last season's team, adding five players from the transfer portal, an international recruit and three freshmen headlined by five-star forward Caleb Wilson.

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Edited by Bhargav