Duke vs UNC - College Basketball's Fiercest Rivalry

Separated by only 8 miles, and competing on the hardcourt twice yearly since 1920, Duke vs North Carolina might have remained a sentimental rivalry between two neighboring schools except for one minor detail - they're both very good.

Each school's basketball schedule is set so the last game of the regular season is Duke vs UNC (home court advantage alternates). Since both teams are usually ranked and competing for the ACC Title, and a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, every game is important. Wins are made even sweeter when one of the teams is unranked and has a chance to ruin the others Championship dreams with an upset.

But really, how good are Duke and UNC?

* Since the formation of the ACC in 1953, Duke and UNC have combined for 80% of the regular season conference titles, and 61% of the conference tournament titles.

* Both basketball programs are highly successful in their own right with UNC currently ranked #2 in all-time college basketball victories and Duke ranked #4.

* At least one school has been in the AP Top 25 for their last 127 meetings (UNC - 103, Duke - 82).

* In 67 meetings BOTH teams were ranked in the Top 25.

* Largest margin of victory for UNC is 37 points, 55 - 18 in 1921

* Largest margin of victory for Duke is 35 points, 104 - 69 in 1964

* Currently UNC has won 5 National Titles, and Duke 3.

* UNC leads the all-time series with a record of 130 - 100.

The origins of Duke University go back to 1837, when Brown's Schoolhouse was organized by a group of Methodists and Quakers, near the present day town of Trinity. In 1841, North Carolina formally chartered the Union Institute Academy, which was soon renamed Normal College in 1851, and then Trinity College in 1859.

Trinity College moved to Durham in 1892, and theni 1896 received a $100,000 endowment from Washington Duke, provided the University open its doors to women. In 1924 the Duke Endowment was established by James B Duke (Washington's son). Trinity College was then renamed Duke University, in honor of Washington Duke.

Around the same time, in 1924, the school's newspaper started referring to the school's sports teams (which previously had no nickname) as the Blue Devils. The name was derived from "les Diables Bleus" an elite French alpine fighting unit during WWI.

Today, the Blue Devils compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and have one of the most successful basketball programs in the nation.

Duke has won 3 National Championships, played in the Championship game 9 times, and been in 14 Final Fours.

They have won the ACC Tournament Championship 18 times (Congratulations on your 2010 Championship, with a 65 - 61 victory over my Alma Mater Georgia Tech), won the ACC regular season title another 18 times, and are the #4 most victorious basketball program of all time.

The first 40 years of the rivalry passed in relative serenity . But like all good things, this too came to an end.

The first seeds of true animosity were sown in the 1960s when future NBA Hall of Fame Coach and UNC standout Larry Brown got into a brawl with Duke star Art Heyman.

Both players would be suspended.

The rivalry reached new heights in the 1980s at a time when both schools were being led by two of the most successful (and competitive) coaches in college basketball, Dean Smith at UNC and Mike Krzyzewski. The increasing availability of cable tv, and statios like ESPN, also meant that games could now be veiwed by devoted alumni nation-wide.

In the 10 seasons from 1982 to 1993, both North Carolina and Duke would win 2 National titles each, UNC in 1982 and 1993, and Duke in 1991 & 1992.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill first starting enrolling students in 1795, making it one of the oldest public universities in the United States, and the oldest to award degrees in the 18th Century. In the aftermath of the Civil War, th eUniversity was forced to close from December 1870 until September 1875, during the Reconstruction.

In 1931, the North Carolinna Legislature consolidated UNC with the State College of Agriculture and Engineering and the Women's College, forming the Consolidated University of North Carolina. In 1963,when the university was made fully coeducational, the Women's College was renamed the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of North Carolina officially became known as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Being the oldest of the institutions by almost 100 years, UNC at Chapel Hill was recognised as the flagshipschool of the new state wide university system.

The school's sports teams are called the Tar Heels, in reference to North Carolina's prominent tar and pitch industries of the eighteenth century.

Today, the Tar Heels compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and are only the second basketball program in history to reach 2,000 victories (#2,000 came on March 2, 2010).

North Carolina has won 5 NCAA National Championships (a controversial 6th was awarded retroactively for an undefeated season in 1924, but this is not recognised by the NCAA), played in the Championship game 8 times, and appeared in a record 18 Final Fours. Additionally, UNC has won 17 ACC Tournament Championships (second to Duke's 18), and 27 ACC regular season titles.