North Carolina at Duke Preview

It all started on January 24, 1920, when North Carolina beat Trinity College (which four years later was change to Duke University) 36-25. Since that contest, this matchup has grown to be voted the third best rivalry in all of sports according to ESPN poll taken this decade. The intensity of the rivalry is augmented by the proximity of the two universities, roughly eight miles apart and is further enhanced with North Carolina being a public school and Duke a private university.

Just the two names of these schools evoke the joy of watching college basketball. North Carolina leads the all-time series 128-97 and annually these are among the best teams in the country. These two schools have played 123 consecutive games with one or both being in the AP Top 20 or Top 25. (It changed to the latter years ago) Duke and North Carolina have met 64 times when both teams were ranked in the Top 25, with the series tied, 32-32.

Though always a fierce rivalry, the modern era of hatred had its roots in the early 1960’s when Duke star and eventual national player of the year Art Heyman got into a fight on the court with North Carolina's Larry Brown, (that’s right, the long-time and current Charlotte Bobcats coach) which resulted in suspensions for both players. With the evolution of cable television in the mid-1980’s, these encounters were regularly broadcast to a larger audience, making coaches Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski even bigger stars. The Mar. 4, 2006 battle is the most viewed college basketball game ever on ESPN.

The number of legendary games are too numerous to mention, but they helped cultivate Dick Vitale’s broadcasting career and he has shown his appreciation countless times with his admiration by name-dropping each school at almost every broadcast he does.

With a couple of losses and a few closer than expected contests, North Carolina (21-2, 10-12 ATS) is no longer the most feared team in the country. Though extremely talented, the game to game intensity is not always there, granted, this won’t be an issue for this matchup. If the Tar Heels bring their A-Game, possibly only two or three teams in college basketball are capable of beating them, period.

Coach Roy Williams has two players that can drive the Cameron Crazies nuts, Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington. Hansbrough and teammate Danny Greene are trying to become the first players since Tim Duncan and Rusty LaRue marched into Durham and won four years in a row. Those Wake Forest teams did so five straight times from 1993-97. "You said it right there - it's winning," Hansbrough said. "Any time you beat them, here or there, it means a lot."

Ellington is nifty shooter and can stroke it with the best in college basketball. Duke has had their problems with guards that have two-way abilities to score, like Ellington. The Tar Heels are 9-2 but just 2-8 ATS playing with three or more days rest.

For Duke (20-3, 11-10-1 ATS) to win, they must keep up defensive intensity, like they have shown most of the year, but not recently. Three of the Blue Devils last four opponents have scored 70 or more points and they have failed to cover on each occasion. On offense, fewer forced three-point shots and more trips to the foul line would help. Duke can not afford to just have Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler do the scoring. Guards Greg Paulus, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer must make stronger contributions and center Brian Zoubek will have to have eight points and seven rebounds to be a factor. The Blue Devils are 20-6 ATS when they score 81 or more points in a game over the last two seasons.

Swingman Gerald Henderson is the type of player that can been bothersome to the Tar Heels, being able to score as slasher or bury the jumper. Duke has similar record to UNC with rest at 11-2, however is much better against the spread at 8-4.

Bookmaker.com has listed Duke as two-point home underdogs. The Dukies are 6-2 ATS off a non-cover this season and North Carolina are 5-2 ATS if their opponent has a winning home record The Tar Heels best shot every game, is imposing will on opponent. If the other teams starts playing aggressive defense, this band of Heels will sag for periods when they can’t score. Being as talented as they are, North Carolina is 7-1 and 5-3 ATS in true road games.

Duke is 14-0 at home (6-6-1 ATS) this year and is 7-4 SU in Durham against the team in the Carolina blue jerseys, but just 2-9 ATS. ESPN of course has the telecast starting at 9 Eastern and maybe they will play that unusual clip of Coach K talking about never making the eight mile trip to Chapel Hill.