ACC Country

There are others that I am intentionally leaving off for obvious reasons. But in no particular order…

1. Kiss the rings.

No rivalry in sports is more competitive than Carolina/Duke. There is almost ALWAYS something at stake – aside from bragging rights – when the Heels and Devils collide. At least one team has been ranked in the polls for the last 48 years. 32 of the 54 ACC Tournaments have been won by either Carolina or Duke, and more regular season titles than that. The two schools have 8 national titles between them, and have been to a combined 30 Final Fours. There is NO rivalry in any sport at any level that can match this consistent long term level of relevance and top notch competitiveness.

2. Black Sunday

March 11, 1979. After trading victories in the the Big Four tournament, regular season, and ACC Championship, the Tar Heels and Blue Devils found themselves in Raleigh for the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Top seeded Carolina – earning that slot due to their defeat of Duke in the ACC Championship – faced Penn in the first game of the day, with second seeded Duke taking on St. John’s in the nightcap. On practically home turf in the Reynolds Coliseum, both the Heels and Devils were both upset in close games, with neither fanbase able to bask in the other’s demise. The entire state was in shock, and the day became known as Black Sunday.

3. The Burning of Atlanta

The 1974 ACC Championship between State and Maryland may be the best played game ever. The 1992 East Regional Final between Duke and Kentucky may have best combined drama and on-court execution. But the 1989 ACC Championship game between Duke and Carolina in Atlanta is hands down the most intense college basketball game ever. The teams had traded barbs all season, and even coaches Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski were taking public shots at each other by the time the ACC Tournament rolled around. Elbows were thrown all game long in one of the most physical games I’ve ever seen, players talking trash to one another the entire 40 minutes, a game that was not decided until Duke All-American Danny Ferry’s 70 footer rimmed off at the buzzer.

4. Bumping Chests

Carolina guard Raymond Felton had just been knocked hard into the press table by Duke’s Dahntay Jones at the Smith Center on March 9, 2003. UNC head coach Matt Doherty immediately sprinted down the sideline from the other bench to see about his point guard. As a crowd formed around Felton just on the other side of the Blue Devil bench, Doherty began having words with Duke assistant coach Chris Collins and Duke reserve Andre Buckner shoved the Carolina coach which triggered a near brawl, with Doherty and Collins “bumping chests” while screaming at each other in the middle of the scrum. Carolina ultimately won the game 82-79 as Jones’ 35 foot runner at the horn was waved off for coming after time expired. The following week, before the two clubs met in the ACC Semifinals, the coaching staffs shook hands before the game to bury the hatchet, but jerk Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins refused to shake Doherty’s hand.

5. Eight Miles Apart

It is a simple case of “there’s only room for one of us in this town.” There is a mere 8 mile stretch of highway 15-501 separating the two universities. Tell me where else you can find two top class teams in any sport that close and intertwined the way Carolina and DUke are.

6. “Duke still has the ugliest cheerleaders in the ACC.”

This EPIC quote from then Carolina head coach Matt Doherty symbolizes the mindset of this rivalry. 17 years after playing his last game for UNC, Doherty still couldn’t stomach the Blue Devils, and was looking to loosen up his team during a timeout in the Carolina/Duke game in Cameron in 2001. Duke fans probably think the same way about Carolina cheerleaders. They’re WRONG, but the’re entitled to their incorrect opinion nevertheless. Oh, Carolina won the game 85-83 after Shane Battier fouled Brendan Haywood on a court length pass with one second left.

7. Eight Points in Seventeen Seconds

March 2, 1974. The standard bearer of basketball comebacks. Down 86-78 with only seventeen seconds remaining on the Carmichael Auditorium clock, the Tar Heels, without the benefit of the three point line, pulled the most insane comeback of all time. Bobby Jones hit two free throws to cut the lead to six. Consecutive steals of Duke’s inbounds pass led to layups by John Kuester and Jones to make it 86-84. Duke actually got the ball in on a third try, and Carolina was forced to foul Pete Kramer. Kramer missed the front end of a one and one and UNC called for time with three seconds to go. Mitch Kupchak hit Walter Davis at midcourt on the pass, and Sweet D took two dribbles and let a 35 footer fly, and it banked in at the buzzer to force overtime as Carmichael exploded. Duke was DOA and the Heels won 96-92 in OT.

8. Eric Montross

The seven foot Carolina center with the trademark buzzcut flattop haircut became one of the lasting images of the rivalry. Top ranked Duke came into the Smith Center on February 5, 1992 invincible. The defending National Champion Blue Devils were undefeated, the last loss coming at the hands of Carolina in the ‘91 ACC Final. The long winning streak ended that night, as Montross knocked heads with Christian Laettner, giving us the famous shot of blood running down the Carolina’s center’s face and all along the back of his shaved head. Heels’ point guard Derrick Phelps hit two free throws in the final minute, and Laettner missed a runner in the lane as the final seconds ticked off the clock to give Carolina the huge upset.

9. Coach K

He doesn’t see himself as a basketball coach. He sees himself as a leader who happens to coach basketball. Don’t worry about making mistakes, just work together. He also, unlike other schools, doesn’t discuss injuries. To his credit, he’s won a LOT of games, too.

10. The Farewell to Phil

Senior Day at Carmichael in 1978 was the final home game for the greatest Tar Heel ever, Phil Ford. Naturally, Duke was the opponent. The maestro of the Four Corners went for 34 points with a sprained wrist and willed Carolina to victory, 87-83, in a game in which Duke led for most of the way. Ford’s two free throws with six seconds left iced the game and capped off what is generally agreed to be the most emotional game in Carmichael history, so much that assistant coach Bill Guthridge decided against leaving UNC to take the head coaching job at Penn State. Ford is still the all-time scoring leader for Carolina, although if a particular Heel stays around for his senior year next season, that mark is likely to fall.

11. The Fight

When Duke’s Art Heyman grabbed Larry Brown on the baseline in 1961, the fight that ensued permanently upped the ante in the Duke/Carolina rivalry. Heyman intentionally fouled Brown under the hoop, and Brown retaliated by spinning around and attempting to throw the ball into Heyman’s face from about two feet away. Not only did the benches empty, but people came out of the stands to throw down in the biggest riot in ACC history. It took more than fifteen minutes for the smoke to clear and order to be restored.

12. “G is the real victim here.”

Yet more thuggery from the Blue Devils, this one far more vicious than Heyman’s foul on Brown. The 2007 meeting in Chapel Hill had all but been decided, the Heels with a comfortable lead with 20 seconds left. Coach K it was “a shame” that these players were still in the game at the time, but nevertheless, Tyler Hansbrough grabbed his own rebound off a missed free throw, and when he went back up for a putback, Duke’s Gerald Henderson came across with a blatant forearm across Hansbrough’s face, breaking his nose. The bloodied Hansbrough storming off the floor looking for someone to fight instantly became THE image of the rivalry. And Coach K naturally assumed no responsibility for the incident.

13. Dean Smith

Greatest coach ever. Knight may have more wins. Wooden may have more titles. K may have all the endorsements. But Dean Smith was the total package. He could coach his guys and beat you, then coach your guys and beat you. He revolutionized basketball with his Four Corners offense. And he was a better man than he was coach, single-handedly responsible for Chapel Hill becoming desegregated in the mid-60’s.

14. J.J.’s Last Stand

Cameron Indoor Stadium was an asylum on Senior Night 2006 as Shelden Williams and all-time ACC leading scorer J.J. Redick suited up for the last time for the Blue Devils. Admittedly, I fully expected Redick to score 50 points, and it looked like he might as he hit two quick shots early. But that was the end of Redick’s hot streak, as he struggled the rest of the night. Rather, it was the young Tar Heels, their roster full of freshmen and sophomores, that came into Durham and knocked off the top ranked Devils, sending Redick and Williams home without their big night, the Carolina freshmen outscoring the Duke seniors.

15. “J.R. Can’t Reid”

This epic placard once appeared in the stands at Cameron and was the firecracker that set off Dean Smith in 1989. A potshot at UNC forward J.R. Reid, Smith countered later in the season by stating that Reid’s and teammate Scott Williams had a higher combined SAT score than Duke’s Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner. K responded that Smith’s leaking of those facts was a low blow and took serious offense to it.

16. Rasheed Wallace

‘Sheed vowed that Carolina would never lose to Duke during his time at Carolina, and he was right. The outspoken UNC forward made this statement before the #1 vs. #2 meeting between the two schools in 1994, won by Carolina. In Wallace’s two season in Chapel Hill, the Heels were 4-0 against Duke.

17. The Shot

The most famous of those four victories came on February 2, 1995 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke was in a freefall, K having taken time off with a bad back, and Carolina came in ranked second in the nation. The Heels jumped out quick, with a thundering alley oop jam from Wallace and the famous under the rim reverse dunk by Jerry Stackhouse. But Duke stormed back and led by double digits in the second half, only for Carolina to make its own rally to force overtime. With the game seemingly in the bag in OT, up 95-92, Carolina’s reserve center Serge Zwikker missed two free throws with four seconds left, and Jeff Capel hit a running 40 footer as time expired to tie the game and force a second OT. The Heels however, unlike the Devils in ‘74, held firm and won the game 102-100.

18. The Three Point Play

My favorite moment of the rivalry. It was Senior Day in Chapel Hill for the three seniors – Jawad Williams, Jackie Manuel, and Melvin Scott – who had toughed out the 8-20 season in 2002. Things were set up for Carolina to win the ACC regular season championship and make a huge run in the NCAA Tournament. However, with three minutes left, Duke led 73-64 and was all set up to spoil the party. But Carolina dug deep and rallied, cutting the lead to 73-71 with 30 seconds left. Raymond Felton was fouled, hitting the first free throw, but missing the second. But Carolina freshman Marvin Williams scooped up the offensive rebound, put it back in, getting fouled in the process, and popping the roof off the Dean Dome. Williams hit the free throw, and Duke’s Redick missed what would’ve been the game winning three pointer and Carolina pulled out the victory 75-73 to win the ACC regular season title.

19. “Thanks UConn.”

This one is a personal one. I took a tour of the UNC campus the first week of April 1999. The most memorable thing from the tour was a message on a bedsheet hanging from a dorm room. “Thanks UCONN for the great graduation present. 77-74.” Of course, two days before, Connecticut had upset heavy favorite Duke int he NCAA Title game in Tampa.

20. Us vs. Them

It’s north vs. south. Rich vs. poor. Public school vs. private school. They are just different schools. Good vs. evil. You get the idea.