The Tobacco Road rivalry, better known as North Carolina vs. Duke, has produced some of the best moments in sports history. Before they were Duke, the Blue Devils were Trinity College and in 1920, the Trinity College Blue Devils would face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels for the first time in history.
“I think that it’s definitely the biggest rivalry in both college basketball and the NBA, because there used to be big rivalries like the Lakers vs. Celtics, but they aren’t as popular as they used to be,” senior Tyler Kurz said.
In their first matchup in 1920, Duke and UNC weren’t yet thought of as rivals. The notion of a rivalry between the teams wouldn’t be mentioned until after their matchup in February of 1929. The intensity of the rivalry began to rise in the early 1950s with the introduction of more skilled players, which led to larger crowds and games being broadcasted nationally on the radio. In recent history, there have been some amazing moments for both sides that contribute to the overall popularity and intensity of the rivalry, from UNC’s Danny Green’s posterizing dunk on Duke’s Greg Paulus at Cameron Indoor in 2008 to Austin Rivers’ buzzer-beating three pointer to take down the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill in 2012.
“When I was younger, I had always seen the rivalry as the Battle of the Blues, and I don’t think it has changed much since then,” freshman Isaac Dusek said.
The rivalry has a history of the top players in the country coming head-to-head for a potential spot in first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and the title of regular season conference champions. The 2018-2019 season has been no different, as North Carolina and Duke were both tied with Virginia for first place in the conference. The first matchup quickly became the most anticipated and most expensive game of the year, as ticket prices soared and fans, including former President Barack Obama, piled into Cameron Indoor Stadium to see the nation’s number one player, Zion Williamson, in his first-ever meeting with the Tar Heels. The coverage surrounding Williamson didn’t last long, as he left the court only 30 seconds into the game with a knee injury and wouldn’t return until the start of conference tournament. Neither team was done yet, as the two would meet up for a third time in the ACC tournament where the nation would get to see the true rivalry matchup that they’d been waiting for.
“I think the rivalry has definitely gained more attention than it used to, and I think that it’s more of a good thing for both the fans and the players,” said Kurz.
The two blue bloods have a deep history of talented players, including Kyrie Irving, Tyler Hansborough, J.J. Redick and Michael Jordan. The two teams have featured some of the most historic coaches, with Dean Smith, Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski all being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Even though UNC and Duke’s basketball teams take center stage, the rivalry continues to spread onto other fields of play. Since 1948, their football programs have been going head-to-head for Tobacco Road’s edition of the Victory Bell, where the winning school holds the bell and all the bragging rights until next year’s standoff.
When the football and basketball programs wrap up their seasons and put the rivalry on hold, both schools’ men’s lacrosse teams continue the rivalry into the Spring. While North Carolina and Duke have never met in the NCAA Tournament for basketball, they have faced off in the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament, meeting in the quarterfinals three times from 2007-2010, all of which resulted in Duke victories.
College rivalries usually span across the major sports that the respective schools compete in every season, and that is certainly the case with these two Tobacco Road rivals. The UNC-Duke rivalry, however, is undeniably more serious and competitive in basketball than in any other sport. Two schools separated by only ten miles of highway and history that stretches back almost a century would produce a rivalry for the ages; one that would take the college sports world by storm and will continue to headline front pages across the country for many years to come.
