North Carolina state legislators advanced a bill Tuesday that would require the state’s two largest public universities to play each other annually in football and basketball and play three other top public system schools regularly.
The bill also would direct the Wolfpack and Tar Heels to play East Carolina University, Appalachian State University or the University of North Carolina at Charlotte at least once every year in those sports.But with the ACC’s evolution uncertain amid conference alignment and schools chasing more revenues, the potential for UNC and N.C. State joining different conferences is not so far-fetched.
“The fans want to see these games. The players want to play these games,” said bill sponsor Rep. David Willis, a Union County Republican who went to Appalachian State. “The coaches may have a little trepidation from time to time but .... I think the business case is there, and it’s exciting.” The N.C. State and UNC women’s basketball teams will no longer play twice in the regular season after the ACC brought in California and Stanford from the Pac-12 and SMU from the American Athletic Conference to join this summer.