The Next Play: What’s on deck this week in Triangle sports
The sports world continues to churn along at the college and pro level, and that means plenty to see and do around the Triangle this week. Here are a few things to watch for:
Don’t call it a rivalry
Saturday, N.C. State and UNC will meet for a men’s basketball matchup in a Triangle-centric game that won’t mean much in the ACC standings, but will mean plenty for the area fan bases.
The Tar Heels have been all over the map this season, winning games they probably shouldn’t have won, and losing games they definitely shouldn’t have lost.
The Wolfpack, meanwhile, has been licking its wounds from the opening tip of the season, when it lost star defender and inside presence Manny Bates to injury. Since then, State has been a young, gritty, determined group, but has struggled to find key wins, stumbling to near the bottom of the ACC standings as we approach the midpoint of the conference schedule.
The Heels, meanwhile, have been the very definition of up-and-down. The team’s overall record and conference record are both solid enough, but the way they’ve won — and lost — games has been puzzling. They’re hoping this matchup, which happens at the tail end of a busy week, will be part of a win streak that sets the season straight.
Busy week
The Hurricanes finally got a full week of games in last week, and have another big slate coming up — and most of those will be at home.
The Canes wrapped up a busy week with a home/away back-to-back with New York and New Jersey, and will start a stretch of four games in six days this Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Canes are among the top teams in the NHL this season, part of a loaded Eastern Conference race that includes division rival Washington, and last year’s division rivals Tampa Bay and Florida. But the Knights are no slouches themselves, leading the Pacific Division ahead of the two surprising — and young — teams from southern California.
The Canes’ second game this week will be a quick trip to Ottawa (COVID willing) on Thursday, followed by a weekend back-to-back against New Jersey and San Jose.
Women’s rivalries center stage
The UNC women have hit a bit of a stumbling block since starting the season unbeaten — and by stumbling block we mean they lost a whole two games.
That said, it’s how they lost those games, and to which teams. And, the Heels get a shot at revenge pretty quickly. First, though, they need to navigate through another team from the Triangle with a solid start in Duke. The UNC and Duke women’s teams have been turning heads in this early part of the season across the ACC, and Thursday they get to face one another for the first time this year.
NC State has a matchup with Virginia Tech to worry about Tuesday before turning its attention to a rematch with UNC next weekend. The Wolfpack handed the Heels their first loss of the season back on Jan. 6. After seeing UNC, Duke will travel to Top-5 Louisville for its weekend showcase.