Next week, games start to count in college basketball. After a Jekyll and Hyde preseason, the North Carolina Tar Heels will host Western Carolina on November 2 in their regular season opener.

UNC wowed fans during its exhibition opener, an 88-70 win over Top-25 USC. North Carolina disappointed in a 76-58 loss at Indiana, with post issues being exposed, then needed overtime to beat Charlotte on Tuesday, 89-82.

As the Tar Heels try to discover their identity in Michael Malone's first season as head coach, analysts will try and judge how well the boys in Carolina Blue play this season. In CBS Sports' Matt Norlander's Top 100 and 1 rankings, UNC finds itself debuting at 32nd.

"Blue blood hires a coach with no experience running a college program, but who spent decades in the NBA and won a world championship with one of the best players in history," Norlander writes. "Yeah, I'm putting UNC in the top five category for Most Interesting Teams of 2026-27. Michael Malone was provided a budget just north of $20 million and didn't get a roster that was ranked in the preseason, but that doesn't mean this has to be an experimental trial season for Malone. Carolina has the firepower to prove it will wind up approximately where I've slotted it: a top-four team in the ACC right away under Malone. This is a good roster that could be a No. 6-seed-level which, ironically, is where Carolina was in March before Hubert Davis' team blew a 19-point lead to VCU in the first round and put UNC in this position."

North Carolina has every early look of a backcourt-heavy team, anchored by Utah transfer Terrence Brown. Senior and Chapel Hill native Jarin Stevenson is playing some of his best basketball, while guys like Neo Avdalas provide versatility the Tar Heels need to be successful. Maximo Adams will be the best freshman on Malone's first roster, which stills needs post depth despite having three 7-footers.

UNC won't play away from Chapel Hill until November 27, when it travels to face West Virginia in the Dick Vitale Invitational from Charlotte. Can North Carolina contend in the ACC and make the NCAA Tournament?