The Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels have operated on fairly different trajectories over the last several years. Heading into the 2026-27 college basketball season, the two clubs are met with pretty different expectations.
Where Duke has had stability over the last few years, the Tar Heels have had anything but. This ultimately led to the dismissal of head coach Hubert Davis and the appointment of former NBA champion Michael Malone as the program’s next head coach.
I am definitely intrigued by the hire of Malone, but UNC will still enter the season with lots of question marks. Let’s break down the differences in expectations between Duke and North Carolina entering the year.
Expectations for Duke
Simply put, Duke will enter the year with one of the best rosters in the country, and it will be expected to firmly be in the mix to cut down the nets in April 2027.
Head coach Jon Scheyer built a roster ready to win in the modern college basketball era. He and his staff brought back three starters from last season’s squad that earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, and four of their top six scorers. Redshirt freshman Sebastian Wilkins is also back in Durham.
Scheyer and Co. then brought in two big-time additions from the transfer portal in John Blackwell from Wisconsin and Drew Scharnowski from Belmont. Blackwell will be the Blue Devils’ go-to scoring option, and he has the potential to put together an All-American-level senior season…