The North Carolina Tar Heels hired 2023 NBA Champion head coach Mike Malone to pick up the ball that Hubert Davis dropped during his five seasons in Chapel Hill. Unfortunately, Malone has not been able to pick up the slack enough to contend with the Tobacco Road rival Duke Blue Devils. Jon Scheyer, hired a year after Davis, though far more accomplished, has built a sizable lead in the 2026 class, finishing with four players in 247Sports’ recruiting rankings’ top 100, to UNC’s two.

While Malone recently landed four-star wing Kevin Thomas, the Tar Heels still have a long way to go to surpass the Blue Devils during the 2026-27 season. NC State Wolfpack guard Matt Able, Virginia Tech Hokies wing Neoklis Avdalas, Utah Utes guard Terrence Brown, and Northwestern Wildcats forward Cade Bennerman make up a strong start via the portal, while unsigned players like Mayfair (CA) guard Josiah Johnson (No. 57), SPIRE Academy (OH) wing Alex Constanza, and North Shore (TX) wing Christian Gibson could provide a late-cycle boost.

It’s not over for Malone, but Duke is going to be the ACC’s projected top dog again this coming winter. Malone will either have to get used to that or truly change the culture, as he did with the Denver Nuggets before their title run three years ago.

Duke opens up six spots higher than UNC in 2027 college basketball futures odds

It’s no surprise, then, that the Blue Devils opened up as much likelier 2027 March Madness champions than the Heels. Per ESPN, Duke has the best odds, while North Carolina has the seventh-best odds.

Preseason expectations aren’t the end-all, be-all. The Purdue Boilermakers were the favorite to win it all last November, followed by the Houston Cougars, Blue Devils, and Florida Gators. No one saw the Michigan Wolverines coming.

It’s tougher for the Tar Heels to surprise anyone in late March, but at minimum, a championship coach is bringing great talent, if not elite talent, to the fold, and that coach once won in the NBA under similar circumstances.

Malone just needs his Carolina Blue versions of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Bruce Brown.