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The start of the 2025-26 women’s college basketball season has not been kind to the ACC.
The conference has seen two teams that began the season ranked in the top 10 tumble all the way out of the top 25. In the latest AP Top 25 poll, every ACC that is still ranked is ranked lower than they were at the start of the season. Furthermore, ACC squads managed to squeak out just three wins in the 16-game ACC/SEC Challenge.
Can No. 12 North Carolina or No. 22 Louisville salvage the slumping reputation of the ACC?
On Sunday afternoon, the Tar Heels host the Cardinals (4 p.m. ET, ACC Network) in a contest that could prove consequential in determining the regular-season conference championship, while also showing that the ACC, while down, should not be counted out.
This is an opportunity for UNC to flex their ACC superiority
While the Tar Heels began the season ranked No. 11, they’re currently down just one spot at No. 12. Their two losses also are respectable. First, they fell to then-No. 3 UCLA at the WCBA Challenge in Las Vegas, 78-60, unable to overcome a double-double from Lauren Betts and the Bruins’ overall dominance of the interior. For last week’s ACC/SEC Challenge, the Tar Heels traveled to Austin to take on No. 2 Texas, when a strong start by UNC quickly turned into a UT rout due to the Tar Heels’ turnovers and wayward 3-pointers.
Although the losses to UCLA and Texas made clear that the Tar Heels are not yet ready to compete with the nation’s very elite, an authoritative win over the Cardinals can at least assert that UNC is clearly superior to the rest of the ACC.
The Tar Heels’ advantage is their quality of depth, with head coach Courtney Banghart calling on eight players to play at least 20 minutes per night. The combination of senior Indya Nivar and sophomore Elina Aarnisalo equips the team with two reliable ball handlers, while that pair, along with sophomore forward Ciera Toomey and freshman wing Nyla Brooks, produce at least 10 points per game. Toomey takes care of the glass, with seven boards per game. Both Aarnisalo and Brooks are credible 3-point threats, as well as sophomore guard Lanine Grant.
On Sunday afternoon, the Tar Heels could also benefit from senior forward Nyla Harris, who spent the first three seasons of her college career at Louisville. Harris has assumed a smaller, yet more efficient, role since switching to Carolina Blue. Contributing 9.9 points per game, she’s shooting a career-best 57 percent from the field, while also maintaining her high activity on the boards.
UNC might lack the star power usually required to elevate a team from good to great. But if they can take care of business against the Cardinals, the Tar Heels can demonstrate that they are more than good enough to stand alone as the ACC’s best team.
Louisville has reason to believe they are the best in the ACC
Louisville, however, will enter the game similarly intent upon proving that they are immune from the ACC’s ills. Like North Carolina, they also have not suffered a bad loss, with their three defeats coming to No. 1 UConn, then-No. 20 Kentucky and No. 3 South Carolina.
The Cardinals can also claim more competitive losses to top tier teams. While it looked like UConn was going to run away from Louisville, the Cardinals deployed a zone defense that gave the Huskies trouble, requiring the defending champs to play until the final buzzer to earn the 79-66 win. Louisville likewise made South Carolina fight until the finish, as indicated by their two-point, 79-77, loss.
After a rough opener, sophomore guard Taj Roberts has begun to rediscover the star-level scoring she flashed as a freshman. The Cardinals’ leading scorer, two of Roberts’ strongest games have come against tough competition. More recently, she put 20 points on South Carolina, boosted by a season-high four 3-pointers. Before that, she scored 22 points against Kentucky.
A season-best outburst from Roberts could be Louisville’s surest path to victory.
Otherwise, head coach Jeff Walz likely will look to Laura Ziegler. The senior forward who transferred from Saint Joesph’s is averaging 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. While she had a bad night when Louisville lost to South Carolina, she opened the season with a 16-point and 18-rebound double-double against UConn. She also earned an 18-point and 11-rebound double-double against Kentucky. As size is one of Carolina’s weakness, Ziegler ability to dominate the interior could be the edge Louisville needs. All the more, Ziegler is not simply a bruising big, as she is shooting better than 40 percent from 3 and is the Cardinals’ assist leader.
If Roberts and the Cardinals’ other young guard can provide enough perimeter pop to support Ziegler’s frontcourt versatility, Louisville could be leaving Chapel Hill confident that that are the best in the ACC.
