College basketball season begins in five short months. With a new head coach and new-look roster, your North Carolina Tar Heels create plenty of excitement and mystery heading into their fall.
UNC made a giant but unexpected splash by hiring Michael Malone, a longtime NBA boss who led the Denver Nuggets to their first Championship in franchise history. North Carolina also replaced its entire starting lineup from its 2025-26 campaign, landing guys like Utah guard Terrence Brown and international center Sayon Keita.
As the Tar Heels get deeper into their 2026 offseason, predictions will continue. In ESPN’s latest Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings, via On3Sports, UNC lands in the final spot.
North Carolina is a spot behind Purdue and two slots behind Iowa State. Florida leads the rankings, while Duke, Michigan, Illinois and UConn round out the Top 5.
A major key to the Tar Heels’ on-court success will be determined how their new guys play together. UNC landed several transfers from other Power Four programs, like Matt Able from NC State, while its 3-man high school recruiting class consists of Kevin Thomas, Maximo Adams and Malloy Smith.
Malone is a respectable, fiery coach who players will run through a wall for. He’s a first-time guy at the collegiate level, but his ability to recruit talent transitions well from the NBA. Just look at his most recent addition to North Carolina’s roster, Greek big man Alexandros Samodurov.
Time will tell how good the 26-27 Tar Heels are, with a few early growing pains expected. Talent is scattered across UNC’s roster, though, so expect strong results in Year One of the Malone era.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Top 25 spot secured in latest Way-Too-Early rankings