A ranking of the top 10 moments of the ACC basketball rivalry, Duke versus UNC.
Peanut butter and jelly, Tom and Jerry, North Carolina and Duke. This is obviously a list of not only overused clichés, but also things that need each other to exist. Things that need each other to have a purpose, no matter how much they may not want to admit it.
Yes, for as much as Duke and North Carolina hate each other, they need each other. College basketball needs them to need each other. When this rivalry is at its peak, everyone seems to win.
Even if you root for schools in the Big Ten, Pac-12, Big 12, or any conference, you still know about the UNC-Duke rivalry. Even if you don’t watch college basketball at all, you know about this famed rivalry. You know about the hate, the history, the greatness.
It isn’t the oldest rivalry by any means, as these two first started playing in 1920. What makes this rivalry so great is the incredible players and coaches to take part in it. It is the proximity of these two schools (eight miles), located in the already crazed basketball state of North Carolina. It is the pure disdain between these two storied programs. It is the upper echelon of college basketball facing off against the upper echelon of college basketball. To put it simply, it is consistently the best versus the best. It’s North Carolina versus Duke.
It’s well perceived that this is the greatest rivalry in sports. Such a great rivalry has given us many great moments. We took the liberty of narrowing these down to the top 10 greatest moments between Duke and North Carolina in this famed rivalry.