Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball will face off against one of the blue blood programs of the sport on national television next season.
The Norse travel to Chapel Hill for a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels on December 27. The game will be televised nationally by ESPNU at 7 p.m.
The game marks the first meeting between the two schools and next season will be NKU’s second in NCAA Division I competition. The Norse have never played a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference in men’s basketball.
A year ago, Northern Kentucky posted an 11-16 overall record against a schedule that featured Ohio State, Texas Tech, San Francisco, Tulsa and Florida Gulf Coast twice. The Norse finished 9-9 in their first season of competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
North Carolina finished 25-11 last season and earned a trip in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels, third all-time with five national championships, posted a 12-6 record in the ACC.
NKU’s schedule also features Kentucky and Purdue. (SEE PREVIOUSLY: NKU to Play Kentucky, North Carolina Next Season)
A rematch of the 2013 A-Sun Tournament championship final between Florida Gulf Coast and Mercer is also scheduled to appear on ESPNU. Florida Gulf Coast won the A-Sun Tournament title and then made a Cinderella run to the NCAA Sweet 16.
Defending A-Sun regular-season champion Mercer gets a second appearance on ESPNU when the Bears face Big 12 opponent Oklahoma in Norman on Dec. 2.
“The increase in coverage for A-Sun basketball is based on achievement and reflects the hard work done by our basketball teams. We are very proud to continue expanding the ESPN/A-Sun partnership to bring more national exposure to our student-athletes and institutions,” said A-Sun commissioner Ted Gumbart. “We look forward to showcasing A-Sun teams and their growing success with our teammates at ESPN.”
The games join an expanding list of A-Sun contests scheduled to appear across ESPN networks. FGCU joins Kennesaw State as the A-Sun’s newest members to join the conference’s campus video production initiative that began last season with Lipscomb and USC Upstate. The institutions combined to produce 30 of the A-Sun’s events that were carried on ESPN3 that included volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, softball and baseball.