Tar Heels will open the 2016 season in Atlanta versus Georgia.
UNC will play Georgia in the season-opening Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game in Atlanta next season, it was confirmed Thursday. Carolina will face the Bulldogs in the Georgia Dome on Saturday, September 3, 2016. It will be the first matchup between the Heels and Georgia in nearly a half-century.
This will be UNC's second appearance in the Chick-Fil-A game. The Tar Heels lost to LSU 30-24 in 2010 in a game that featured nearly a dozen suspended players at the beginning of The Great Unpleasantness. Georgia lost to Boise State the following year, which is the last time the Bulldogs were featured in the game.
In addition to being featured in a season-opening, prime-time game, there stands to be a strong financial benefit for Carolina. Last year's participants Alabama and West Virginia split a $6.4 million payout, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
It will certainly be a near-road game for UNC after recent trips to South Bend, Columbia and Greenville to play non-conference games in front of hostile crowds. Plus it's Carolina playing in Atlanta. Nothing weird ever happens when UNC plays in Atlanta, right?