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The Duke-North Carolina rivalry is one of the most popular in sports, with the two Tobacco Road nemeses—whose campuses are just eight miles apart—having played each other for over 100 years. Duke and North Carolina have met 258 times, with UNC owning a 143-115 series record over Duke. The two schools have combined for 38 Final Fours and 11 NCAA tournament championships. Duke has won national championships in 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, and 2015, while UNC has won in 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, and 2017.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of players in the NBA in 2020 | Duke: 23, UNC: 14 |
| Number of players participating in the 2019-20 NBA season | Duke: 17, UNC: 9 |
| Number of NBA championships won by players | Duke: 7, UNC: 34 |
| Number of appearances in the Women's Final Four | Duke: 4, UNC: 3 |
| Number of NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships | Duke: 0, UNC: 1 |
| Number of national championships | Duke: 5, UNC: 6 |
| Number of ACC Championships | Duke: 7, UNC: 5 |
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What You'll Learn
Duke vs UNC in the NBA
The Duke–North Carolina rivalry, also known as the Tobacco Road rivalry, is one of the most intense in all of US sports. The two universities are located only about eight to ten miles apart, with Duke being a private university and UNC a public school. The rivalry is particularly strong in basketball, with the two teams having played each other for over a century.
The rivalry reached new heights in the mid-1980s, thanks to increased national television coverage, and the emergence of star players and coaches such as Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski. Smith and Krzyzewski are two of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I men's basketball history, with Smith holding the record for most wins when he retired in 1997, a record later surpassed by Krzyzewski in 2010.
The rivalry has continued into the 21st century, with Duke winning 13 of 18 games between 2009 and 2017, including three season sweeps over UNC. However, UNC has had the upper hand since 2017, winning 2 out of 3 matchups in 2018, 2019, and 2022, and sweeping the season series in 2021.
In terms of NBA success, Duke has had more players in the league in recent years, with 17 former Duke players in the NBA in 2020 compared to 14 from UNC. However, UNC has had more success in terms of championships, with Tar Heels winning a combined 34 NBA championships, including 6 by Michael Jordan alone. Duke alums, on the other hand, have won 7 NBA championships. When it comes to individual accolades, UNC has had more success there as well, with 5 players in the top 100 career scoring list, compared to just 2 from Duke.
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Duke's Coach K
Duke University's basketball team, the Blue Devils, were coached by Mike Krzyzewski, also known as Coach K, from 1980 to 2022. During his tenure, he led the team to five national championships, 13 Final Fours, 15 ACC tournament championships, and 13 ACC regular-season titles.
Coach K is widely regarded as one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time. He is a three-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and has also been inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. He has averaged nearly 30 wins per season during his time at Duke, with a total record of 1,129-309 at the university.
Krzyzewski's impact on Duke's basketball team extended beyond their success on the court. He helped to elevate the profile of the team and the university, with their games regularly being broadcast on national television since the early 1980s. This increased exposure contributed to the intense rivalry between Duke and the University of North Carolina (UNC).
In addition to his accomplishments at Duke, Coach K has also coached the United States national team, leading them to gold medals at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics, as well as the 2010 and 2014 FIBA World Cup.
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UNC's Dean Smith
Dean Smith was the head coach of the University of North Carolina's (UNC) basketball team from 1960 to 1997. In his 36-year tenure, Smith's teams had a record of 879-254, with more wins than any other Division I men's basketball college coach in history at the time. Smith's first season was his only losing one, with the team going 8-9. After that, UNC won nine of their last eleven games, and Smith turned the team into a consistent success. From 1965 onwards, his teams never finished worse than tied for third in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Smith's first major successes came in the late 1960s, with his teams winning consecutive regular-season and ACC tournament championships, and appearing in three straight Final Fours. They went all the way to the national championship game in 1968. Smith's teams would appear in either the NCAA or NIT in every one of his final 31 years. Under Smith, the Tar Heels won at least 20 games for 27 straight years and 30 of his final 31. They won their first ACC title in 1967 and went on to win it 7 more times under Smith.
Smith's UNC won the NCAA championship in 1982 and 1993, as well as the NIT title in 1971. The 1982 championship was a significant moment for Smith, as he had lost in the Final Four six times previously. Smith also coached the 1976 Olympic champion team.
Smith is remembered for his legacy of caring for people, including his recruitment of Charles Scott, the first black scholarship athlete at Carolina. In recognition of his achievements, Smith received numerous awards, including Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPY Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the US. Smith passed away in 2015, aged 83.
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The 1980s rivalry
The rivalry between Duke and UNC, also known as the Tobacco Road rivalry, is considered the greatest in college basketball. The two universities, located just eight miles apart, have been competing for local and national dominance since their first basketball meeting on January 24, 1920, with UNC winning 36-25.
The rivalry reached new heights in the mid-1980s, thanks to the emergence of cable sports channels like ESPN, which gave a vast national audience the opportunity to witness the two teams and their coaches. The two teams became fixtures on national television from the early 1980s, and their final regular-season games have been nationally televised for most of that time.
The rivalry between Duke and UNC has extended beyond the basketball court, with the two schools also competing in other varsity sports. From 2001 to 2011, the rivalry was intensified by the awarding of the Carlyle Cup, given annually to the school with the most combined head-to-head wins against the other in shared varsity sports. The rivalry has also spilled over into women's college basketball, with both Duke and UNC fielding two of the strongest women's basketball teams in the nation.
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The Carlyle Cup
UNC clinched the second annual Carlyle Cup in 2002 with a lead of 24-14. In 2008, Duke closed the gap in the Carlyle Cup standings to 10-3 with an 89-78 win over UNC. Duke's win ended a three-game losing streak against their biggest rivals.
The Victory Bell is another tradition in the Duke-North Carolina rivalry. The winner of the game gets to spray-paint the platform of the trophy in their school colours—Carolina blue for UNC and royal blue for Duke. The two schools dispute the overall record, with UNC claiming a lead of 64-40-4 and Duke asserting a score of 65-41-4. The disagreement stems from a game in 1889, where both teams believed they were the home team, resulting in a double forfeit. Most neutral record-keepers credit this game to UNC.
Since the 2010-11 season, the rivalry series has been renamed the "Battle of the Blues" presented by Continental Tire, and the Carlyle Cup has not been awarded. However, the competition between Duke and UNC continues, with UNC winning 2 out of 3 matchups from 2018 to 2022 and sweeping Duke 2-0 in 2021.
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Frequently asked questions
Duke has won 4 national championships in 1991, 1992, 2001, and 2010.
UNC has won 6 national championships in 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017, and 2022.
Duke has 17 players in the NBA as of 2020.
UNC has 14 players in the NBA as of 2020.
