by Dan Greenland

Created on: February 27, 2009

There are many great rivalries in college basketball, the excitement seems much more intense and the fans are...well...crazy. Professional sports do not bring out the enthusiasm that many of these college match-ups bring. The reason for this is probably because people are tied to these teams, many attended college at these schools or have good friends who did.

There are several aspects that make a great rivalry. First is competition; a rivalry cannot exist if one of the teams usually wins by a large margin. Second is meaning; regardless of how great the competition is, if the game really means nothing people don't get up for the game. Third is consistency; for a rivalry to be good, teams have to play regularly, at least once a year; and the competition level has to be consistent. Many rivalries die because one or both teams become weaker. And fourth is availability; the greatest rivalries are always televised so fans can fuel the rivalry.

Probably the best rivalry in college basketball (and perhaps in all of sports) is between the Duke Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels. These are two of the most storied programs in college basketball. Year after year both of these teams find themselves in the discussion concerning the National Championship. They play in the same conference, many years they are ranked first and second in the ACC and some years the rest of the field is so far back that they can only hope to compete for third place in the ACC.

Duke and North Carolina play each other twice during each regular season; it is also not uncommon for them to meet a third time in the ACC tournament...many times for the ACC Championship. The rivalry is also fueled by the fans. The two stadiums are barely 10 miles apart; whether the game is played at North Carolina or at Duke, their closeness allows the crowd to be well represented by fans from both schools. The game is also televised, ESPN usually goes out of their way to ensure that everyone knows when the game will be broadcast, sometimes advertising it more than a week in advance.

The most important thing about this rivalry is that the teams never disappoint the fans. Whether you are a Duke fan or a North Carolina fan or just a basketball fan, this game always takes it the distance. Their last meeting was held on Feb. 15th at Cameron Indoor Stadium on the Duke campus. The Blue Devils started slow and found themselves down by 11 points in the first half. But fueled on by their fans, "The Cameron Crazies," they came roaring back, taking the lead 52-44 at the half. It seemed that their late first half run took a lot out of them though, and North Carolina retook the lead early in the second half. They played hard and made a fine game. In the end Duke found themselves behind and in desperation began to foul to stop the clock. North Carolina didn't miss their free throws and increased their lead in the waining minutes of the game. The final score was 101-87 in favor of North Carolina. North Carolina now holds the lead in the ACC by this one game over Duke. But Duke travels to North Carolina on March 8th for the rematch and a chance to retake the lead in the ACC.

This year, like most others, this rivalry is as important to the standings as it is fun to watch. The two teams compete on so many levels other than just during their games against each other. Duke and North Carolina fans follow the other team closely; sometimes hoping they lose, but more ofter hoping they win to set up yet another match-up for the ages when the two teams meet again.

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