How to watch Saturday’s lone UNC-Virginia ACC basketball matchup of 2024-2025 season

The North Carolina Tar Heels still have plenty of work to do if they hope to make the NCAA Tournament, but their recent stretch is a good start.

On Wednesday night in Chapel Hill, UNC dominated rival NC State for a 97-73 victory. Three days earlier, North Carolina (16-11, 9-6) beat Syracuse on the road by an 88-82 mark.

This Saturday, February 22, the Tar Heels welcome a struggling Virginia squad to the Dean Dome for a 4 p.m. tip-off. The visiting Cavaliers (13-13, 6-9) aren’t the same program they were under longtime coach Tony Bennett, who retired after the previous season, but the Hoos are playing better basketball as of late.

UNC has too much at stake to lose Saturday, but we’ve witnessed UNC fall victim to UVA’s slow pace plenty of times before. North Carolina likes to get out and run in transition, while the Cavaliers prefer to set up good shots by using the entire shot clock. Something has to give Saturday, so who wins the tempo battle?

The Tar Heels play Virginia during an easy stretch in their schedule, in which all four of the Tar Heels’ upcoming opponents have sub-.500 records in ACC play. UNC ends its regular season with the always-popular Tobacco Road Rivalry against archrival Duke, which will be a good measure of how ready UNC is for postseason play.

UVA isn’t going anywhere near the NCAA Tournament unless it wins the ACC Tournament, which NC State did last year after an average regular season. If North Carolina loses Saturday, it can kiss March Madness hopes goodbye.

If you’re heading to Chapel Hill for the game, have fun cheering on the Tar Heels. If you’re watching on TV or your favorite streaming device, keep reading below for all the broadcast information you need to know.

What channel is North Carolina vs. Virginia on Saturday? Time, TV schedule

TV Channel: ESPN2

Time: 4 p.m. ET

Where to watch UNC vs. Virginia on live stream

Watch UNC vs. Virginia live on Fubo (free trial)

UNC vs. Virginia prediction, picks, odds

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: North Carolina’s success on Saturday depends how well players control the tempo.

The Tar Heels are a run-and-gun type offense, whereas Virginia plays slower that sloths climbing down a tree. The visiting Cavaliers are experts at slowing down UNC, something which I have concerns about for Saturday.

North Carolina has too much at stake to lose Saturday, so I’m predicting a decent victory for the good guys

Score prediction: UNC 68, Virginia 57

All College Basketball Odds via BetMGM

SPREAD: N/A

MONEYLINE: N/A

O/U TOTAL: N/A

Full UNC basketball schedule

Oct. 12: Blue-White Scrimmage (Blue 62, White 53)

Oct. 15: Exhibition @ Memphis (W, 84-76)

Oct. 27: Exhibition vs. Johnson C. Smith (W, 127-63)

Nov. 4: vs. Elon (W, 90-76) (1-0, 0-0)Nov. 8: at Kansas (L, 92-89) (1-1, 0-0)

Nov. 15: vs. American University (W, 108-55) (2-1, 0-0)

Nov. 22: at Hawaii (W, 87-69) (3-1, 0-0)

Nov. 25: vs. Dayton, Maui Invitational (W, 92-90) (4-1, 0-0)

Nov. 26: vs. Auburn, Maui Invitational (L, 85-72) (4-2, 0-0)

Nov. 27: vs. Michigan State, Maui Invitational (L, 94-90 OT) (4-3, 0-0)

Dec. 4: vs. Alabama, SEC/ACC Challenge (L, 94-79) (4-4, 0-0)

Dec. 7: vs. Georgia Tech (W, 68-65) (5-4, 1-0 ACC)

Dec. 14: vs. La Salle (W, 93-67) (6-4, 1-0)

Dec. 17: vs. Florida, Jumpman Invitational (L, 90-84) (6-5, 1-0)

Dec. 21: vs. UCLA, CBS Sports Classic (W, 76-74) (7-5, 1-0)

Dec. 29: vs. Campbell (W, 97-81) (8-5, 1-0)

Jan. 1: at Louisville (L, 83-70) (8-6, 1-1)

Jan. 4: at Notre Dame (W, 74-73) (9-6, 2-1)

Jan. 7: vs. SMU (W, 82-67) (10-6, 3-1)

Jan. 11: at NC State (W, 63-61) (11-6, 4-1)

Jan. 15: vs. California (W, 79-53) (12-6, 5-1)

Jan. 18: vs. Stanford (L, 72-71) (12-7, 5-2)

Jan. 21: at Wake Forest (L, 67-66) (12-8, 5-3)

Jan. 25: vs. Boston College (W, 102-96) (13-8, 6-3)

Jan. 28: at Pitt (L, 73-65) (13-9, 6-4)

Feb. 1: at Duke (L, 87-70) (13-10, 6-5)

Feb. 8: vs. Pitt (W, 67-66) (14-10, 7-5)

Feb. 10: at Clemson (L, 85-65) (14-11, 7-6)

Feb. 15: at Syracuse (W, 88-82) (15-11, 8-6)

Feb. 19: vs. NC State (W, 97-73) (16-11, 9-6)

Feb. 22: vs. Virginia

Feb. 24: at Florida State

March 1: vs. Miami (FL)

March 4: at Virginia Tech

March 8: vs. Duke

March 11-15: ACC Tournament (Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC)

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Broadcast information for Saturday’s UNC-UVA ACC basketball rivalry