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Pete ThamelESPN
PHILADELPHIA — North Carolina and Duke have played each other 257 times since 1920. They’ve competed in thunderclap matchups of No. 1 vs. No. 2, have battled frequently in the ACC tournament, and even have faced off once in the 1971 NIT semifinals.
The 258th matchup will be the first one ever to take place in the NCAA tournament, a cosmic collision seemingly swiped from Tobacco Road fan fiction. North Carolina and Duke are located eight miles apart and have combined for 248 NCAA tournament wins, but their meeting in the Final Four in New Orleans will come with the highest stakes in the rivalry’s storied history.
No. 8-seeded North Carolina’s 69-49 evisceration of 15-seed Saint Peter’s on Sunday sends the Tar Heels to the Final Four for the 21st time in program history, extending its all-time appearance lead over UCLA (18). With a week of buildup before the age-old rivals take the court, expect the game to be billed as the most anticipated meeting in the history of the Duke-UNC rivalry.
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis clinched a Final Four bid in his first season on the sideline at UNC. And his climb onto the national stage as a head coach creates another bit of basketball providence. Davis’ first Final Four as a head coach fatefully intersects with the heralded exit of Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who is retiring this season after leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four for a record 13th time in his career.
“I haven’t thought about it at all,” Davis said of Duke. “The only thing on my mind is celebrating with the rest of the players on what just happened today. Next week will be next week. And we’ll deal with that next week. But right now I don’t want to think about next week and lose the moment of today.”
The confluence of the teams, stakes and Krzyzewski’s career potentially ending at the hands of North Carolina creates the opportunity for generations of bragging rights for the winner.
There’s two distinct possibilities: Either UNC…
Source : espn
