| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 1980–81 |
| Team: | North Carolina Tar Heels |
| Conference: | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Short Conf: | ACC |
| Coachrank: | 6 |
| Aprank: | 6 |
| Record: | 29–8 |
| Conf Record: | 10–4 |
| Head Coach: | Dean Smith |
| Hc Year: | 20th |
| Asst Coach1: | Bill Guthridge |
| Ac1 Year: | 14th |
| Asst Coach2: | Eddie Fogler |
| Ac2 Year: | 10th |
| Asst Coach3: | Roy Williams |
| Ac3 Year: | 3rd |
| Stadium: | Carmichael Auditorium |
| Champion: | NCAA tournament, Runner-up ACC tournament champions |
| Bowl Result: | L 50-63 vs. Indiana |
The 1980–81 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented University of North Carolina. Led by senior guard-forward Al Wood, it won the 1981 ACC Tournament and reached the championship of the NCAA Tournament, falling to Indiana University 63–50. The head coach was Dean Smith. The team played its home games at Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
|-!colspan=9 style=| Regular Season|-!colspan=9 style=| ACC Tournament|-!colspan=9 style=| NCAA Tournament[2]
See main article: 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings. [4]
| Year | Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 4 | Al Wood | Atlanta Hawks | |
| 1981 | 5 | 73 | Pete Budko | Dallas Mavericks |
| 1981 | 6 | 123 | Mike Pepper | San Diego Clippers |
| 1 | 1 | James Worthy | Los Angeles Lakers | |
| 1982 | 3 | 59 | Jimmy Black | New Jersey Nets |
| 1982 | 6 | 131 | Chris Brust | Denver Nuggets |
| 1982 | 7 | 153 | Jeb Barlow | Denver Nuggets |
| 5 | 107 | Jim Braddock | Denver Nuggets | |
| 1 | 4 | Sam Perkins | Dallas Mavericks | |
| 1984 | 6 | 118 | Matt Doherty | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 1984 | 9 | 194 | Cecil Exum | Denver Nuggets |
| 5 | 104 | Dean Shaffer | Washington Bullets | |