Conference realignment has changed the dynamic of college sports, with the SEC and Big Ten strengthening their lineup. Texas and Oklahoma moved to the SEC, while the Big Ten added UCLA, Oregon, USC, and Washington. This has left powerhouse schools from other conferences in limbo, such as North Carolina. The Tar Heels are one of the college basketball blue bloods and have a competitive football program, so they would be a quality addition to any conference. UNC is also a premier academic school, and the state is the third-fastest growing in the country.

North Carolina is the backbone of the ACC, so any movement could shake up the entire conference. If you love the Tar Heels, or just want the latest updates and news on conference realignment discussions, be sure to see what the proven team of insiders are saying at Inside Carolina, the 247Sports affiliate that covers the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Inside Carolina is universally viewed as the authority on Tar Heel sports and recruiting. With relentless, unparalleled year-round coverage, and the largest online community of always-engaged UNC fans, the slogan is true: “There is no offseason at Inside Carolina.”

Inside Carolina has been “The Independent Voice of UNC Sports” since 1994, and is a network partner with 247Sports and CBS Sports. The Inside Carolina staff is composed of experienced, professional reporters and analysts whose job is to provide readers with objective coverage. The publication is independently owned and operated, and is not affiliated with the University. It is fully credentialed by UNC, the ACC and the NCAA. 

The team at Inside Carolina has full coverage of conference realignment talks and what UNC could prioritize amid the ever-changing college sports landscape. Head to Inside Carolina now to see all the insider info.

North Carolina conference realignment news, updates 

University of North Carolina officials reportedly find themselves at odds in determining the best route to take regarding conference realignment. The board voted to approve a $134.97 million athletics budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year as well as an audit of the athletic department’s financial picture. Some officials believe the best path forward is to bolster the ACC, while others think moving to the SEC or Big Ten would be the right move.

“(North Carolina interim chancellor Lee) Roberts noted that the ESPN television contract has a renewal period in February, and that likely is (ACC commissioner Jim) Phillips’ best opportunity to settle the mess that lies before him. It’s also likely why the tensions have flared up in recent months as UNC leadership grapples with its best path forward,” Inside Carolina columnist Greg Barnes said. Join Inside Carolina now to see the latest news on the future conference alignment of North Carolina’s athletics. 

How to get insider North Carolina sports news updates

The team at Inside Carolina has also mentioned another university that may give the ACC the boost it needs to compete with the Big Ten and SEC going forward. This school has a national following and high-end programs in the revenue-producing sports. Be sure to join Inside Carolina to get the latest ACC expansion news and updates on the current and future conference affiliation of North Carolina athletics.

Where do insiders believe UNC could lean amid conference realignment and turmoil? Go to Inside Carolina to see their insider information, all from a team of reporters with years of experience covering the Tar Heels, and find out. And reminder, Inside Carolina is offering 30% off the first year of an annual VIP membership*, so subscribe now before it’s too late.

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A Confederate monument at a North Carolina county courthouse is at the center of a lawsuit for what some say explicitly supports slavery.

And the words at the heart of contention are: “In appreciation of our faithful slaves.”

That quote has stirred a long battle in Tyrrell County, North Carolina. Several Black residents said in a recent federal lawsuit against the Tyrrell County Board of Commissioners that the words endorse slavery and violate the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment.

History and art experts told USA TODAY the monument’s placement at the county’s courthouse sends a troubling message to Black residents.

“This civic monument is appallingly explicit in its pro-slavery message, communicating it not only in text but its proximity to a legal institution — suggesting that the destructive ‘Lost Cause’ narrative is not merely a myth but a lawful truth,” Jessica Baran, art history doctoral candidate at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote in an email.

The “Lost Cause” narrative refers in general to attempts to present the Civil War from the perspective of Confederates and in the best possible terms, according to the Encyclopedia Virginia. Developed by white Southerners, many of them former Confederate generals, the Lost Cause created and romanticized the “Old South” and the Confederate war effort, often distorting history in the process, according to the encyclopedia.

The nearly 23-foot-tall monument next to the Tyrrell County Courthouse is of a common Confederate soldier with a written tribute to “the Confederate cause.” It also contains a bust of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, along with the words “in appreciation of our faithful slaves” on a separate panel, according to the University of North Carolina library.

Confederate Army Lt. Col. William F. Beasley gifted the county the monument in 1902. The courthouse opened in 1903, according to state records.

Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, the group suing the county commissioners to remove the monument, said in the lawsuit that the structure is likely the only one in the country at a courthouse that “expresses a racial discriminatory message.” The citizens group has rallied and spoken at county commissioner meetings to remove the structure with no luck, at times facing what they claim is racial intimidation by other residents.

“It’s really a racially hostile environment for them at this point in the county because they’re well known for having spoken out against this statute,” said Jaelyn Miller, attorney for Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County. “It’s made some folks fearful to continue doing rallies and demonstrations because of that.”

Neither of the five Tyrell County Board of Commissioners responded to USA TODAY’s request for comment. According to UNC, county manager and attorney David Clegg and board chair Nathan “Tommy” Everett said state law prevents the statue’s removal, but Miller said the 2015 law only applies to structures on state-owned property.

Current Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who has been governor since 2017, supports removals.

It’s the latest Confederate monument eyed for removal among hundreds after racial unrest across the nation. A white man killed nine Black worshippers in 2015 at a Charleston, South Carolina, church; white nationalists rallied in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, leaving one woman dead; and hundreds protested George Floyd’s death in 2020, demanding an end to systemic racism.

“It’s not so much these monuments have been erased, it’s that they are being moved out of these conspicuous public spaces,” said W. Fitzhugh Brundage, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

University of Alabama history professor Hilary Green, who couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, has tracked Confederate monument removals before and after the racist Charleston church shooting. The map was last updated in October 2023. She told the University of Alabama in 2020 that removals are the beginning of conversations about underlying issues and tensions in communities.

Special case because of location near courthouse

The Confederate monument is a special case, Brundage said, because of its inscription and location. He said white elites dedicated the monuments to each other, honoring their fights for the Confederacy. But the Tyrrell County monument doesn’t separate the army from slavery.

Other monuments across the country spoke about states’ rights.

“It is unusual to have a Confederate monument of any kind, but certainly not one in front of the courthouse that specifically links the commemoration of the Confederacy with the commemoration of the service of ‘faithful slaves,’” Brundage said. “It is an exceptional monument to make the linkage between the Confederacy and slavery as it does.”

Fight for the monument’s removal has directly affected some Black residents. Miller said Adriana Blakeman and Sherryreed Robinson, who are Black, faced armed supporters and were driven off the side of roads for their activism, which they alleged in the lawsuit. Miller said it was the latest intimidation tactics they faced as they’ve pursued the statue’s removal.

“That’s the sort of like double standard that they’re having to live through and threats to their physical safety,” Miller said.

Brundage said the lawsuit – and any future ones across the country – will be a spectacle with efforts picking up across the country to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. He’s curious on how the national conversation will spill into the courts on cases filed under the Fourteenth Amendment.

“I’m wondering whether that backlash will, in any way, impact the ability of activists to appeal to a language of inclusion as grounds for the removal of these monuments,” he said. “There just seems to be less, at least in the political discourse, sympathy or less tolerance for the language of inclusion.”

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @KrystalRNurse.

The NASCAR spotlight will shine on the Tar Heel State for the second straight week as Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts its annual Memorial Day weekend showcase, the Coca-Cola 600 tomorrow. Sign up today with the best North Carolina sports betting apps and you can cash in on thousands of dollars in welcome offers.

Joey Logano dominated last Sunday night’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway but was overshadowed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch, who got into a post-race, pit-row brawl after Busch wrecked Stenhouse on the second lap of the 200-lap race. Stenhouse was fined $75K for throwing the first punch but wasn’t suspended, so both drivers will race at CMS. Busch is +1800 on the pre-race odds, whole Stenhouse is +10000. Denny Hamlin is the favorite at +500.

You can wager on the Coca-Cola 600 – or the Indy 500 – the NBA and NHL conference finals and so much more from the palm of your hand with these North Carolina betting apps.

Best North Carolina Sports Betting Apps

Every North Carolina resident and visitor who’s thinking about wagering on needs to grab these North Carolina sports betting apps and bonuses to load up their bankroll.

BetMGM NC Betting App

As we start discussing all the North Carolina sports betting apps, let’s start with the biggest number on the board, available with the BetMGM North Carolina bonus code SBWIRE.

Make your first bet on any sport available on the BetMGM app — one of the best North Carolina betting apps. If it loses, you will receive bonus bets back as a refund. For wagers below $50, you will get one credit for the full amount. For bets of $50 and more (capped at $1,500), you will receive five bonus bets, each equal to 20% of your original bet.

Caesars Sportsbook North Carolina Betting App

The Caesars Sportsbook NC promo code gives new time users a $1,000 First Bet on Caesars. If your opening bet up to $1,000 after registration loses, Caesars will pay you back with a matching bonus bet.

You have 14 days to play the bonus bet credit, which comes with no odds restrictions and carries a 1X playthrough – meaning anything you win while wagering with the bonus bet is yours to keep.

FanDuel North Carolina Sports Betting App

When you sign up for a FanDuel account with the FanDuel North Carolina promo code and play a $5 first bet, $200 in bonus bets are all yours.

You get seven days to play these bonus bets, but here’s where FanDuel is unique. FanDuel allows you to spread around your $200 in bonus bets any way you like. If you want to use it all on one game, that’s cool. If you think it’d be awesome to have something down on 15 games, then go for it. They’re your bonus bets. The minimum bonus bet wager is just $5, meaning you could make 40 bets if you like – including props and parlays. Each time a bonus bet wins, you win cash.

bet365 North Carolina Sports Betting App

Let’s shake it up a little bit, courtesy of bet365 NC. When you register for a bet365 account with the bet365 North Carolina bonus code SBWIRENC, you’re allowed to decide whether you want either $150 in bonus bets for placing a $5 first bet or a First Bet Safety Net up to $1,000.

With the first offer, you simply make a $5 first bet on anything you want and you’ll get $150 in bonus bets immediately. With the First Bet Safety Net, you get to make a first bet anywhere from $10 to $1,000 with the knowledge that bet365 returns the amount of your bet to your account as bonus bets if it loses.

Fanatics Sportsbook North Carolina Betting App

The Fanatics Sportsbook North Carolina promo code delivers the potential for up to $1,000 in bonus bets with one of the more intriguing North Carolina sportsbook apps available.

When you sign up today, you will receive a matching bonus bet equal to your first wager, up to $100. Then for the next nine days, you can select a real-money wager and have it matched as well – up to $100 each day – for a potential $1,000 in total bonus bets.

DraftKings NC Sports Betting App

Let’s close out this embarrassment of potential riches by checking out what DraftKings has to offer. If you start an account with the DraftKings North Carolina promo code, you’ll get to receive $200 in bonus bets the instant you place a $5 first bet.

As soon as you plunk down your $5 first bet, DraftKings whisks you eight $25 bonus bets, and you’ll have seven days to play them on any sport you want. Any bonus bet needs to win just once for you to collect the profit in cash.

Bet on NBA, NHL Conference Finals & More With These North Carolina Betting Apps

The Celtics can take a commanding 3-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals when that series shifts to Indiana’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse tonight. Boston is unbeaten on the road (4-0) in the playoffs this year. Meanwhile, the Stars will look to even their series against the Oilers in Game 2 in Dallas. No team has lost the first time games at home and come back to win a conference final since the league expanded in 1967-68.

The North Carolina sports betting apps and the sportsbook promos designed for the dawn of this online sports betting era can be utilized on more than 20 sports all over the globe — everything from auto racing to hockey to football to futbol.

There will be plenty of drama. But if you want no drama, then just cash in on $1,700 in bonus bets thanks to all of these spectacular North Carolina betting promos available for new customers. Keep in mind, you can sign up for as many of these as you want!