The next play: What’s on deck this week in the Triangle?
Are you ready for college basketball? This week each of the Triangle ACC schools will offer their first glimpses of this year’s squads.
North Carolina plays a home ACC football game this week.
The Carolina Hurricanes begin regular-season play against a division foe.
Women’s soccer takes center stage in N.C. State-UNC rivalry.
Those are among the things to look for over during the upcoming week:
Midnight Madness
They all use different titles, but the iterations of Midnight Madness that will take place this week all mean the same thing for area college hoop fans — basketball season is officially here.
N.C. State’s Primetime with the Pack will be on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum.
For Duke, Friday’s Countdown to Craziness at Cameron Indoor Stadium will mark the beginning of the end for coach Mike Krzyzewski, who announced in the spring that this will be his final season. The craziness extends beyond a reference to Duke’s student section as tickets on StubHub are already reflecting the demand to witness Coach K’s last go-round. The cheapest tickets are $145, and the most expensive are $2,500.
At UNC, Late Night with Hubert on Friday ushers in a new era as Hubert Davis takes the program reins from Roy Williams. Fans will get an idea of what personal stamps Davis has put on the program since taking over for Williams in April.
Puck drops on a new NHL season
The Carolina Hurricanes won’t get a chance to ease their way into the regular season. Thursday’s home opener brings the New York Islanders to PNC Arena at 7 p.m. The Isles, considered by many to be the Metropolitan Division favorites, came close to making the Stanley Cup Final last season and made a couple of win-now moves in the offseason that they hope will be enough to complete that journey this season.
The Canes’ roster resembles little of the team that compiled the third-most points in the league last season. The opening month will go a long way into figuring out the identity of the new-look roster.
If you don’t catch them at home Thursday, you’ll have to wait for a three-game road swing before the Canes are back in PNC Arena on Oct. 25 against Toronto.
ACC football action
Only UNC plays at home this week with N.C. State returning from an open date to play at Boston College. Duke travels to Charlottesville to take on Virginia.
Carolina and Miami were picked to be the top two teams in the Coastal Division in the preseason, but neither have lived up to the billing so far. The Hurricanes play the Tar Heels at 3:30 p.m. in Kenan Stadium in a game that initially looked like it may determine the division champ. Now, if the Heels lose it will just ensure they are essentially eliminated from the race.
Women’s soccer rivalry
No. 5 UNC women’s soccer travels to face N.C. State on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Wolfpack knocked already has one top-five win over No. 4 Duke and it will try to sweep its Triangle rivals when the Heels pay a visit.