Inside Michael Malone’s $20 million roster at North Carolina and what to expect for the Tar Heels in 2026-27

Peyton Williams / Getty Images The consensus around college basketball’s exploding market is that you need $10 million to be an NCAA Tournament team, $15 million to compete for a conference title and north of $20 million to scale the mountain and win the National Championship. Which puts North Carolina in a slight predicament. Michael Malone’s first Tar Heels roster checks in at $20 million, per a report from Inside Carolina, but this team does not enter 2026-27 as a Tier 1 National Championship contender. CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish ranks UNC 26th in the Top 25 And 1 . That’s…