UCLA is expected to face North Carolina in next season’s CBS Sports Classic event, according to a report on Tuesday from InsideCarolina.

The Bruins took on Kentucky in last season’s classic. They won 63-53 with Jaime Jaquez Jr. making plays all over the floor. Carolina was scheduled to face UCLA during the 2021 event, but COVID issues within the Bruins program prevented that from happening.

Carolina has been the best team in the event since its inception in 2014. The Tar Heels are 6-3 overall, with a 2-0 record against UCLA. The Bruins are 3-5 overall in the event.

UCLA has faced UNC eight times in program history. It has just one win in those eight meetings. The Tar Heels have won 6 straight dating back to Dec. 23, 2000.

The last meeting came in the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, when 8-seed Carolina topped 4-seed UCLA, 73-66. Former UNC guard Caleb Love had one of his signature performances that night, exploding for 27 points in the second half and splashing a game-tying triple off of an Armando Bacot rebound with less than 2 minutes remaining.

Love has left the program, but Bacot will return next season for a UNC team that will look to rebound from the disaster season that became the 2022-23 campaign. The Tar Heels became the first team to go from preseason No. 1 to missing the NCAA Tournament entirely after finishing ACC play with an 11-9 record. They also declined an invitation to the NIT.

The CBS Sports Classic has been held in Chicago (2014, 2018), Brooklyn (2015), Las Vegas (2016, 2019, 2021), New Orleans (2017), and Cleveland (2020). Last season, Madison Square Garden played host for the first time. Next season, the event will shift to another new venue — State Farm Arena in Atlanta.