NCAA Basketball: Top 6 rivalries that were ruined by realignment

Ruined NCAA basketball rivalry No. 1 – Duke Blue Devils vs Maryland Terrapins

• Duke leads series, 114-63
• Last meeting date: 2014 (Duke won, 69-67)
• Biggest margin of victory: 32 points in 1964 (Duke 104-72)
• Longest win streak: 15 (Duke from 1988-94)

You might not know this but nearly 100 years ago, what’s known as the modern-day Southern Conference (SoCon) had both the Duke Blue Devils and Maryland Terrapins as members. These two programs first played one another in 1926, a game in thick Maryland prevailed, 40-20. It would become an annual occurrence up through 1953 when both teams went to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

What makes this rivalry so interesting is that it was competitive and impactful far before modern names such as Gary Williams and Mike Krzyzewski, with Duke making multiple national title games and Maryland making it to the Elite 8 several teams as well. But there’s no question that in the ’90s and 2000s was then this rivalry reached an all-time level.

There were several high-profile games when these teams were both ranked and let’s just say that the crowds were “hostile” to say the least. But arguably the most important game between these programs came in 2001 when they met in the Final Four. Maryland had a double-digit lead at halftime and it looked as if they would make it to the national title game.

But the Blue Devils scored 57 points in the second half to race away with a 95-84 win, led by 25 points from Shane Battier and 23 from Jay Williams. They would go on to beat Arizona to claim the program’s third overall title. But Maryland only had to wait another year to get theirs in 2002.

These programs would continue to play one another until 2014 when Maryland made the decision to go to the Big Ten Conference. The Blue Devils would win the final battle between them, 69-67 in what had become the last game between the programs. There hasn’t been any desire to schedule any non-conference battles to this point but with Jon Scheyer set to replace Coach  Krzyzewski and the Terrapins looking for a new head coach of their own after Mark Turgeon left this season, there’s a potential that the new leaders could come together and make a new series.

This was a rivalry different from North Carolina because Maryland fans were more than willing to compete with Duke on the national stage without having location be a factor. The Terrapins have felt out of place in the Big Ten and part of it has been a lack of a true rival in their new league.

Duke vs North Carolina is viewed by many as the best pure rivalry in NCAA Basketball. But 20 years ago, Duke vs Maryland was right up there in terms of genuine dislike and competitive play at the highest of levels. And unlike other rivalries that made this list, realignment truly killed this battle from continuing, making it the clear No. 1 option for this project.