UNC Women’s Basketball Draws Final Four Powerhouse Texas in ACC-SEC Challenge
The North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball team has a major challenge ahead in this year’s ACC-SEC Challenge.
Shortly after it was announced that the UNC men’s squad would face Kentucky in the event, the women’s matchup was revealed: on December 4th, the Tar Heels will travel to Austin to battle 2025 Final Four team Texas.
The Longhorns are coming off an impressive 35-4 season in which they earned a share of the SEC regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Three of their four losses came at the hands of national runner-up South Carolina—including in the SEC title game and the Final Four. Still, Texas also defeated the Gamecocks once and held the No. 1 ranking nationally for several weeks late in the season.
Despite the usual offseason roster changes, Texas is expected to remain elite. Head coach Vic Schaefer is likely to return SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker, who averaged 16.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season. Under Schaefer’s leadership, the Longhorns have consistently improved year over year, and 2025–26 looks to be no exception.
This will mark the first time UNC has played a Challenge game on the road. They’ve split their first two appearances in the event, falling to eventual national champion South Carolina in 2023 before defeating a ranked Kentucky team last year at Carmichael Arena. Meanwhile, Texas—still new to the SEC—made its Challenge debut last year, losing to Notre Dame in one of its only defeats outside of South Carolina.
Interestingly, this upcoming showdown will be just the second-ever meeting between these programs. The only previous matchup came back in 1981, with UNC taking the win in Chapel Hill.
Coming off a Sweet 16 run in the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels appear to be a program on the rise under head coach Courtney Banghart. This year’s ACC-SEC Challenge clash will be a true litmus test—an opportunity for UNC to showcase just how far they’ve come.
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