Women’s hoops schedules released for Duke, NC State and UNC. What are the big games?

Football just started but preparation for basketball season is already underway. The ACC released its full women’s basketball slate this week for every team in the conference.

N.C. State, Duke and North Carolina’s schedules all include key matchups in nonconference and conference play. They each face multiple Power Four opponents, including exhibition games, and NCAA Tournament teams outside the ACC./ N.C. State and Duke both play five Power Four opponents, with UNC facing four. N.C. State has seven 2025 NCAA Tournament teams on its schedule. Duke and UNC have eight.

All three programs start ACC competition in December with at least one game, with the rest of the ACC schedule beginning later in the month or New Year’s Day.

The ACC Tournament is scheduled for March 4-8 at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia, with the top 15 teams in the regular season standings advancing to the postseason.

Can’t-miss nonconference games

The Wolfpack opens its seasonon Nov. 4 against Tennessee on in Greensboro before making a second consecutive appearance in the Ally Tipoff. N.C. State faces Southern Cal in Charlotte on Nov. 9.

About a month later, the team plays Oklahoma in Norman on Dec. 3 for the third annual ACC-SEC Challenge.

UNC’s nonconference schedule features a Nov. 13 clash against UCLA in Las Vegas. The Tar Heels travel to Austin on Dec. 4 to play Texas in the ACC-SEC Challenge. It opens the season on Nov. 3 by hosting N.C. Central in Chapel Hill.

Finally, Duke goes international for its opening game. The Blue Devils will head to Paris for a game against Baylor on Nov. 3. They play in Vegas the week of Thanksgiving and will play South Carolina and either Texas or UCLA. LSU is also scheduled to play at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 3 for the ACC-SEC Challenge.

When does the ACC season start?

Duke is the first team to open ACC competition, when the Blue Devils travel to Blacksburg for a date with Virginia Tech on Dec. 7. They will return to conference action Dec. 28 at Syracuse.

N.C. State starts its ACC slate with two games in December, starting with a trip to Miami. The Wolfpack plays in Coral Gables on Dec. 14 before hosting Georgia Tech on Dec. 18 at Reynolds Coliseum. It starts the rest of the league schedule on Jan. 1 against Stanford.

UNC faces Louisville on Dec. 14 in Chapel Hill, playing just one early ACC game. The Tar Heels begin the rest of its conference slate on Dec. 29 at Boston College.

Must-watch ACC rivalry games

All teams play 16 opponents once and are assigned a home-and-home rivalry series against whom they play on the road and at home.

N.C. State and Wake Forest play in Winston-Salem on Jan. 15 before the Demon Deacons return to Raleigh on Feb. 26 for senior day. The Wolfpack has won 12 meetings in a row.

Duke hosts N.C. State in Durham for their lone regular season matchup, a rematch of the 2025 ACC championship game, on Feb. 19. The Pack fell to the Blue Devils, 76-62. N.C. State seeks to claim its first win in Cameron since 2022, while Duke will want to protect its home court.

The Wolfpack welcomes the Tar Heels to Reynolds Coliseum on Feb. 2 for the annual Play4Kay game. Last season, N.C. State lost to UNC, 66-65, in Chapel Hill but has not lost at home since 2019.

Carolina and Duke will play each other twice. The Heels head to Cameron on Feb. 15 and the Blue Devils head south to Carmichael about two weeks later on March 1. The two teams split the regular season series the last two years, but Duke bounced UNC from the 2025 NCAA Tournament with a 47-38 win in the Sweet 16.

Other big games to watch

N.C. State and Notre Dame series has turned into a rivalry after the teams’ ascension to the top of the ACC. The Wolfpack heads to South Bend on Feb. 15 for another chance to beat the Fighting Irish. N.C. State beat then-No. 1 Notre Dame this season, 104-95, in double overtime. A year prior, the Pack defeated the Irish at Purcell Arena 59-43, in one of the best defensive performances in program history.

Duke, meanwhile, gets a rematch against South Florida on Nov. 20 in Tampa. Last season, the Blue Devils lost to the Bulls, 65-56, after being down by as many as 23 points. Though USF earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, the loss hurt Duke’s resume and tournament seeding. Duke will have another shot this season.

UNC’s schedule features a trip to Cancun and a pair of familiar teams. The Tar Heels will play Kansas State, to whom they lost 63-56 in 2023, and Columbia. UNC has not recently played the Lions, but they traveled to Chapel Hill for the 2025 NCAA Tournament regional. UNC head coach Courtney Banghart’s former Princeton assistant, Megan Griffith, is Columbia’s head coach.

Exhibition opportunities

N.C. State plays two exhibitions this season, starting with High Point on Oct. 18 at Reynolds Coliseum. It then plays Maryland on Oct. 26 at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro as part of a doubleheader with the men’s basketball program.

UNC also plays one exhibition this season. It travels to Atlanta, where it will face South Carolina on Oct. 30 for a preseason matchup.

2025-25 Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball schedule

* Paris, France

^ Player’s Era Women’s Championship, Las Vegas

# ACC-SEC Challenge

2025-26 NC State Wolfpack women’s basketball schedule

* Battle for the ‘Boro, First Horizons Coliseum, Greensboro

^ Ally Tipoff, Spectrum Center, Charlotte

% Cancun Challenge

# ACC-SEC Challenge

2025-26 North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball schedule

* WBCA Challenge

^ Cancun Challenge

# ACC-SEC Challenge

This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Women’s hoops schedules released for Duke, NC State and UNC. What are the big games?."

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer