UNC-Duke: The Rivalry

It is time again for North Carolina v Duke....the biggest rivalry in college hoops and one of the best rivalries in all of sport. Two of the elite programs in the nation, in the same conference, just 8 miles apart. Think about that. In the distance between rival high schools are two schools that have achieved so much success. From 1991-1993, the NCAA Championship resided in that 8 mile patch of highway.

Well, the two hook up again this Wednesday with the same ol' same ol' on the line. Both are competing for an ACC regular season championship....again. Both are ranked squads who expect nothing short of a Final Four appearance....again. Both are run by two of the best coaches in the nation and continuously land top recruits.

Here are just some little stats to harp about during the North Carolina-Duke game this Wednesday.

• North Carolina leads the all-time series, 125-96
• Duke has won 16 of the last 20 meetings....including 8 of 10 in Cameron Indoor Stadium
• The last 122 games between the two schools, at least one of them was ranked in the AP Poll.
• Dean Smith won 8 of his final 9 games against Duke and was 59-35 against Duke [including 24-14 against Coach K].
• Coach K is 20-7 against UNC since Dean Smith left.
• At least one of these schools has made the Final Four in 19 of the last 26 seasons....including both in 1991.
• The two schools have won 5 of the last 16 National Championships
• Only UCLA [17] has gone to more Final Fours than North Carolina [16] or Duke [14].
• North Carolina is 2nd all time in wins. Duke is 4th.
• Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski are the two winningest active coaches with at least 10 years experience.
• No active coaches have been to more Final Fours than Coach K [9] and Roy Williams [5, which he shares with Bobby Knight and Lute Olson].
• The last time these two played, it was the most watched basketball game in the history of ESPN.

These next three days, I'll pimp out this game....as I am a UNC fan who grew up in Charlotte [Charlotte is mainly a Tar Heel town....but the bad blood runs deep]. During the game, I'll do a Live Blog of the action. After the game...rest assured that there will be a full recap of the action.

Screw the Super Bowl! It's UNC-Duke week!