Full disclosure.
North Carolina native and UNC grad here.
So this is happening. After decades of repeatedly living up to its reputation as the greatest rivalry in college sports (sorry, OSU-Michigan; check the receipts), Duke and North Carolina are squaring off in the NCAA tournament. For the first time. In the Final Four. On Mike Krzyzewski’s farewell tour.
Forgive the sports cliché. But short of a national championship matchup, you couldn’t write a more dramatic script if you tried. This is big. Maybe too big. For the die-hards of both fan bases, this week will be racked with anxiety. It will be stomach-churning. It will also be tremendous fun.
That is, until somebody loses. For the vanquished, legacy-laden misery awaits.
Near-miss in 1991
This almost happened in 1991. Duke and North Carolina both made it to the Final Four, this time on opposite sides of the bracket. Duke advanced to the national championship game with a semifinal win over a UNLV team that waxed the Blue Devils in the title game by 30 points the year prior.
North Carolina fell short. The culprit? None other than Roy Williams, the then-Kansas coach who led the Jayhawks to a semifinal win over his alma mater and mentor Dean Smith. Now, three decades and a combined nine national championships later, the nation and Tobacco Road finally have Duke-Carolina in a high-stakes Final Four tilt.
A rivalry built on mutual respect?
The rivalry is sometimes painted as one built on mutual respect and admiration. This isn’t the SEC, after all. While there’s some truth to that — especially in the AAU era of player relationships — don’t be fooled by the glossy finish. This is a feud rife with bad blood and actual blood. And petty. So much petty.
Take Chris Carrawell as the latest example. The Duke assistant and former player was apparently real salty after UNC spoiled Krzyzewski’s March 5 home finale. His response was to refuse to shake the hand of UNC head coach Hubert Davis.
Also see former North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty and Duke assistant Chris Collins. The pair ignited a scuffle between the opposing benches when they got into each other’s faces during a 2003 game in Chapel Hill. Said scuffle spawned a similar handshake snub from Duke assistant and former player Johnny Dawkins, who waved off a handshake from Doherty at the ensuing ACC tournament. Keep in mind, these are all grown men at work.
If it’s player beef you like, check out Gerald Henderson drawing blood from Tyler Hansbrough. Look to Grayson Allen’s shenanigans. Or if you want to see where the heat really turned up, look all the way back to 1961 when Duke’s Art Heyman and North Carolina’s Larry Brown traded blows, sparking a baseline brawl — and a rivalry.
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The tension here dated back to Heyman decommitting after signing a letter of intent with Frank McGuire and UNC to play instead for Vic Bubas’ Blue Devils. Brown and Heyman were reportedly friends and planning to room together in Chapel Hill before Heyman switched allegiances.
Civilized, this is not.
What does Grant Hill think?
Don’t take my word for it. Take Grant Hill’s. The most palatable of Duke greats to the UNC fan base struggled to find something nice to say about Carolina and its fans in a recent interview with Dan Le Batard and Stugotz. The context of the discussion was Carolina fans enjoying spoiling Krzyzewski’s finale more than winning a national title. Which, of course they did.
“If the roles are reversed, they can have the great Dean Smith last game in the Dean Dome or the great Roy Williams last game in the Dean Dome,” Hill said. “We go for championships. But that’s a Tar Heel. That’s what you get. …
“I don’t like to use the word hate. Sometimes you have to bring it off the shelf. … We had no issues with anybody. I was a fan of the Fab Five. I was close with Chris Webber. I got along with everybody else. But I did not like Carolina.”
Hill’s take encapsulates the antagonistic spirit of the rivalry. It also sparks a Carolina counter that Smith and Williams retired without the need of a bloated farewell tour to celebrate their greatness that ran the risk of Duke and K ruining their “great last game in the Dean Dome.” Like I said. Antagonistic.
But I digress.
So what to expect this week?
While there’s no known bad blood between the current group of players, the tension between the fan bases is very real. Especially for the fans raised with the rivalry.
To kids growing up in North Carolina in the 1980s and 90s, it was perfectly normal to spend school days in March watching ACC tournament basketball on TV. Not at home, but in the classroom. Seriously. Teachers regularly wheeled in TVs on metal carts so students — and themselves — could watch Duke, North Carolina or even N.C. State play basketball. Maybe Wake Forest if Tim Duncan was playing.
For these young fans, their allegiance was entrenched on the playground and fully formed if it ultimately corresponded with their college destination. That kind of fandom combined with the proximity of Duke and North Carolina yields said antagonism that translates to taking pleasure in the suffering of the opposing fan base.
And that’s the setting this week across the Triangle and on Bourbon Street as the fans fortunate enough to snag tickets travel to New Orleans to experience America’s greatest host city doing its thing. Please, everyone, be safe.
The Superdome is hallowed ground for North Carolina. It’s the spot where Michael Jordan ripped out Georgetown’s heart in 1982. It’s where Webber’s timeout sealed Smith’s second championship. And here’s Duke trying to enshrine it as its own with a grand sendoff for K at Carolina’s expense. Losing on Saturday would be gut-wrenching for the UNC faithful. A great week in New Orleans spoiled thanks to 40 minutes of basketball. A result that will live forever. It’s the risk taken by every fan descending on the Superdome on Saturday.
For Duke? The stakes are even higher. This is it for Krzyzewski. His team loaded with at least four first-round NBA draft picks is undeniably the most talented in New Orleans. It’s also scorching hot, having found its rhythm since the shame of the home finale and a surprising loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament. Everything is set for Krzyzewski’s storybook ending with a path through UNC to even the national title tally at six apiece. Two wins this weekend would add up to Krzyzewski’s crowning achievement.
But a loss on Saturday? To end his career? To an underdog with a first-year head coach? For North Carolina fans, nothing could be finer.