Eleven power-conference college basketball programs are projected to spend more than $20 million on their rosters this season, and here’s the kicker: ten of them are in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. The lone outlier? North Carolina, a team unranked despite dropping massive cash.
The Big Spenders and UNC’s Wild Anomaly
CBS Sports just dropped a massive deep dive, talking to over 100 sources for more than a month, to figure out what NIL spending actually looks like in college basketball right now. The findings from Matt Norlander and Isaac Trotter are wild. We’re talking 11 programs hitting that $20 million mark for their 2026-27 rosters. Most of them are exactly who you’d expect to see at the top of the preseason polls: Texas Tech, Kentucky, Illinois, Texas, Florida, St. John’s, Louisville, Duke, Tennessee, and Michigan are all in the AP Top 25.
But then there’s North Carolina. The Tar Heels are splashing serious money, yet they are nowhere near the Top 25. They snagged the fifth-most votes among unranked teams, which effectively slots them as the 30th best squad in college basketball heading into the season. In the ACC, they are projected to finish behind Duke, Virginia, Miami, and Louisville. So yeah, the money they’re spending? It absolutely does not match the preseason hype or the lack thereof.
Michael Malone’s New Era Kicks Off with Huge Questions
This season marks a new era for North Carolina, with Michael Malone taking over as head coach. He’s a long-time NBA coach, fresh off leading the Nuggets to a title in 2023, but this is his very first college head coaching gig. Malone got a super late start on the recruiting trail, only getting hired in early April. He quickly brought in six transfers, including former Virginia Tech star Neoklis Avdalas, and still managed to land the No. 9 spot in 247Sports’ team transfer rankings. That’s a decent haul considering the timing.
But college basketball is a totally different beast than the NBA, and Malone doesn’t have much experience at this level beyond an assistant coaching stint way back in the late 1990s. The fact is, UNC isn’t considered a Tier 1 national title contender. Could that change? Sure, Malone is a proven winner. But right now, the sheer amount of money North Carolina is dropping on this roster versus their preseason projections is a head-scratcher.
This wild spending and ranking mismatch will absolutely be a major talking point all season, especially as rosters flip and the transfer portal opens up again next offseason. Will Malone turn this ship around, or is UNC’s massive investment about to become college basketball’s biggest early season bust?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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