Duke-Carolina
Because these two schools deserve a category.
So Duke and North Carolina are picked to finish atop the ACC. This is new?
Seems like the Tar Heels and Blue Devils are always picked to rule the roost, and usually do. Since 1954, one of those two has either won or tied for the ACC title 44 times.
But this is the first time in the 41 years of the conference’s preseason day that they’re officially co-favorites.
Huh. So this means the ACC media guys can’t settle on which team’s gonna be better, either.
But this could be an issue for the rest of the ACC. In the media’s eyes, everyone else is a loooong way back.
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It is funny to see the Duke-North Carolina rivalry spill over into other areas. Take recruiting.
Harrison Barnes, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2010, had a home visit Monday night from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, which was supposed to be the final in-home visit of the contact period allowed by the NCAA.
Except UNC coach Roy Williams showed up a couple hours later.
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Fridays don’t always need to be relaxing. Sure, the weekend’s just hours away, but why not get fired up for that weekend?
Why not indulge in a rant? OK, it’s not mine. But it’s damn fine rant.
A co-worker (and North Carolina grad) sent me this link to Tar Heel Fan yesterday (with a mini-rant of his own, mostly centering on graduation rates). And it’s a great example of how the blogosphere can take apart the MSM with a little insight and a lot of passion.
Did I mention it’s about how Duke and Coach K are treated compared to the rest of the hoops world? Take it away, THF.
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If it wasn’t clear before, it is now. Run with North Carolina at your own risk. Just ask Duke.
We’d already seen the Heels’ awesome offense at work in wins against Michigan State and Notre Dame earlier this season. A week ago, they dropped 108 on Maryland.
But this 101-87 road win against Duke – an exceedingly efficient defensive team – was about as good as it gets.
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The pregame hype for Duke-North Carolina is inescapable.
If you’ve watched a college hoops game on ESPN in the last week, you know that sport’s greatest rivalry has its first game this season on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. OK, maybe the showdown itself doesn’t always live up to that hype, but it’s still No. 3 vs. No. 6, Hard to overlook a game like that.
But the bigger question is if Wednesday’s game gives us any indication about which team will fare better in March.
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It’s funny. The last Duke-North Carolina game resulted in the No. 2 Devils turning in an impressive 89-78 road win against the No. 3 Heels. A month later, UNC hasn’t lost since and is ranked No. 1. Duke lost back-to-back games and is now ranked sixth.
As a result, Saturday’s showdown includes some crucial details.
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The next Duke-North Carolina game isn’t until March 8. But there is plenty of fodder for hype in the meantime. And it’s all coach created.
If you missed Roy Williams’ jab at Mike Krzyzewki – a retort to a comment from Coach K about Carolina’s injuries – here's the best quote: Williams asking an unspecified person to “coach their own damn team, I’ll coach my team.” That person being Krzyzewski.
Who knew this rivlary needed more heat?
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Duke looked every bit like a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in an 89-78 road victory against North Carolina on Wednesday.
The Blue Devils (20-1) hit 13-of-29 three-pointers, made five fewer turnovers in a raucous Dean Dome and their defense hounded UNC’s Wayne Ellington (16.2 ppg) and Danny Green (12.1 ppg) into a nightmarish shooting night. Combined, they were 4-of-24 from the field for 11 points. Without point guard Ty Lawson, UNC’s offense never got on track despite 28 points from Tyler Hansbrough.
But that brushes over the nagging thought from Wednesday’s game: If Duke played that great and UNC only lost by 11 points, does that mean Duke’s hit its ceiling?
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Return to this space at 8:50 p.m.ET. I’ll be doing a live blog of the Duke-UNC game. I'm trying something a little different than a normal post, which will allow readers to post comments in-between my in-game thoughts. Anyway, more details to come then.
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It’s not as if Duke-North Carolina needs any extra hype. The two teams enter Wednesday’s game as No. 2 and No. 3 in the rankings, 3 and 4 in the RPI and 4 and 7 in kenpom.com’s ratings. Duke (19-1) hasn’t lost since Dec. 20. The Heels (21-1) won their first 18 games.
UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough is the leading candidate for Player of the Year, while only Kansas and Memphis have a deeper bench than Duke (maybe UConn and Tennessee, too). That alone would make it a monster matchup. Throw in the history between the two schools, and it’s MEGA.
Yet, what happened to our beloved traditional rivalries? How long until they again garner national attention?
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