# 1998–99 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

The 1998–99 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Bill Guthridge, who was in his second season as UNC's head men's basketball coach. The Tar Heels played their home games at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
After a third-place finish during the conference regular season, the Tar Heels advanced to the ACC tournament title game where they fell to Duke. North Carolina received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 3 seed in the West region, but were upset by Weber State in the opening round to finish 24–10 (10–6 ACC).

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 13, 1998* | No. 11 | Appalachian State | W 87–64 | 1–0 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Nov 16, 1998* | No. 10 | Florida International | W 65–44 | 2–0 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Nov 18, 1998* | No. 10 | Georgia | W 65–58 | 3–0 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Nov 23, 1998* | No. 9 | at Hampton | W 86–75 | 4–0 | Convocation Center Hampton, Virginia |
| Nov 25, 1998* | No. 9 | vs. No. 14 Purdue Preseason NIT | W 54–47 | 5–0 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Nov 27, 1998* | No. 9 | vs. No. 3 Stanford Preseason NIT | W 57–49 | 6–0 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Nov 30, 1998* | No. 3 | at Middle Tennessee | W 75–54 | 7–0 | Murphy Center Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
| Dec 4, 1998* | No. 3 | vs. Old Dominion | W 63–61 | 8–0 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Dec 5, 1998* | No. 3 | vs. College of Charleston | L 64–66 | 8–1 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Dec 8, 1998* | No. 7 | Buffalo | W 98–49 | 9–1 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Dec 12, 1998* | No. 7 | UNC Charlotte | W 75–73 $^{OT}$ | 10–1 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Dec 17, 1998* | No. 7 | Louisville | W 77–72 | 11–1 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Dec 19, 1998* | No. 7 | at Dartmouth | W 82–68 | 12–1 | Leede Arena Hanover, New Hampshire |
| ACC Regular Season ||||||
| Dec 22, 1998 | No. 7 | at Georgia Tech | L 64–66 | 12–2 (0–1) | Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia |
| Dec 29, 1998* | No. 9 | at California | L 71–78 | 12–3 | The Arena in Oakland Berkeley, California |
| Jan 2, 1999 | No. 9 | No. 14 Clemson | W 69–53 | 13–3 (1–1) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Jan 5, 1999 | No. 11 | at Florida State | W 72–54 | 14–3 (2–1) | Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, Florida |
| Jan 13, 1999 | No. 9 | No. 5 Maryland | L 76–89 | 14–4 (2–2) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Jan 16, 1999 | No. 9 | at NC State | W 59–56 | 15–4 (3–2) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Jan 21, 1999 | No. 10 | Virginia | W 71–47 | 16–4 (4–2) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Jan 23, 1999 | No. 10 | at Wake Forest | W 52–40 | 17–4 (5–2) | Lawrence Joel Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Jan 27, 1999 | No. 10 | at No. 2 Duke | L 77–89 | 17–5 (5–3) | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| Jan 31, 1999 | No. 10 | Georgia Tech | W 75–66 | 18–5 (6–3) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Feb 4, 1999 | No. 12 | at Clemson | L 63–78 | 18–6 (6–4) | Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, South Carolina |
| Feb 7, 1999 | No. 12 | Florida State | W 98–64 | 19–6 (7–4) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Feb 13, 1999 | No. 12 | at No. 7 Maryland | L 64–81 | 19–7 (7–5) | Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland |
| Feb 17, 1999 | No. 14 | NC State | W 62–53 | 20–7 (8–5) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Feb 20, 1999 | No. 14 | at Virginia | W 67–66 | 21–7 (9–5) | University Hall Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Feb 23, 1999 | No. 14 | Wake Forest | W 68–65 $^{OT}$ | 22–7 (10–5) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Feb 27, 1999 | No. 14 | No. 1 Duke | L 61–81 | 22–8 (10–6) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 1999* | (3) No. 15 | vs. (6) Georgia Tech Quarterfinals | W 78–49 | 23–8 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Mar 6, 1999* | (3) No. 15 | vs. (2) No. 5 Maryland Semifinals | W 86–79 | 24–8 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Mar 7, 1999* | (3) No. 15 | vs. (1) No. 1 Duke Championship Game | L 73–96 | 24–9 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 11, 1999* | (3 W) No. 13 | vs. (14 W) Weber State First Round | L 74–76 | 24–10 | KeyArena Seattle, Washington |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | 11 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 13 | Not released |
| Coaches | 11 | 11^ | 8 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 18 |
^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.