Buckeyes officially set for nonconference hoops game against North Carolina
COLUMBUS — Ohio State is officially heading to New York City as part of its nonconference schedule.
And the trip to the Big Apple will come with a date with college basketball heavyweight North Carolina as part of the CBS Sports Classic.
The Buckeyes and Tar Heels will square off in Madison Square Garden on Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. A game between Kentucky and UCLA will follow, according to a release put out Thursday.
The Tar Heels are a trendy pick already to be the No. 1 team in the country, and they will present a tough early-season challenge for Ohio State.
The announcement of the game comes just weeks after the Buckeyes finalized their nonconference hoops schedule for the upcoming season, a slate that now features games against a pair of historic ACC programs: Duke and North Carolina.
Ohio State will have a young roster. That might not be a bad thing for Chris Holtmann.
“We’ve got a young group,” Holtmann said. “Hopefully if we can grow together and stay together, we’ll have a real chance.”
Ohio State will officially open its season Nov. 7 at home against Robert Morris, kicking off Year Six of the Chris Holtmann Era for the basketball program. That game will be the first of three straight home games before the Buckeyes head to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, where they could potentially play Arkansas, Arizona, Cincinnati, Creighton, Louisville, San Diego State or Texas Tech, depending on how the tournament draw goes.
The entire nonconference schedule will now build up to the Ohio State date with North Carolina, a massive early-season matchup.
Ohio State 2022-23 nonconference schedule
Nov. 1 — Home vs. Chaminade (Exhibition
Nov. 7 — Home vs. Robert Morris
Nov. 10 — Home vs. Charleston Southern
Nov. 16 — Home vs. Eastern Illinois
Nov. 21-23 — at Maui Invitational (Hawaii)
Nov. 30 — at Duke
Dec. 3 — St. Francis (Pennsylvania)
Dec. 17 — vs. North Carolina at Madison Square Garden)
Dec. 21 — Home vs. Maine
Dec. 29 — Home vs. Alabama A&M
