DURHAM, N.C. -- Whether or not you think Duke-North Carolina is the best rivalry in sports probably depends on how you like your rivalries.
If you like good, old-fashioned, pure, unadulterated hatred without a hint of respect, you've come to the wrong place.
But if you like high-stakes games between two consistently great programs that respect each other but harbor plenty of dislike for each other, then you've come to the right place.
When No. 15 North Carolina (18-7, 8-4 ACC) travels to Durham for the first meeting with rival and No. 4 team in the nation, Duke (22-3, 9-3), there will be a lot on the line. Maybe not as much for each of these teams as there has been traditionally, but all that means is that these two are playing for a top-4 spot in the league instead of THE top spot.
Teams like Virginia, Florida State and Miami have had something to say about both the ACC and regular-season titles in the last few years. Maryland did before that, as did N.C. State. But North Carolina and Duke have combined to win 36 of the 61 ACC Tournaments -- not to mention 48 regular-season titles -- in the 60-year history of the league (going on 61).
Fans of other schools, especially in the ACC, often roll their eyes at this rivalry being hyped up to what it is. But the reason it gets that hype is because it is its own unique entity in sports.
"It's the best game because you have two of the top five programs to ever play college basketball going against one another. We're only eight miles apart, both great schools. The number of amazing players that have played in this game who then have become amazing teams," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
"So there's a level of excellence, individual and collective excellence, in an area that has loved basketball. It's only growing. The 35 years that I've been here, it keeps getting bigger, which is very good for both schools."
A lot of rivalries have history behind them. This one does, but some of the history is somewhat revisionist -- this didn't become the rivalry we know today until Krzyzewski got to Duke in the early 1980s. It was still heated, but it wasn't what it is now.
N.C. State, which had been so dominant in the 70's with David Thompson, and still very good in the 80's and early 90's under Jim Valvano, was the nemesis of former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith for a longer period of time than Krzyzewski and Duke were.
But it didn't take long -- until about the mid-80's -- before it became clear Krzyzewski was the biggest long-term challenger to Smith's ACC supremacy.
"I think during the mid-80's is when it took a step above everybody else," North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said. "When I came to school here, people talked about the Duke-Carolina football rivalry and I never felt that. The basketball thing, it was North Carolina State."
Williams still values his team's rivalry against N.C. State because he grew up in the heyday. Duke alums don't populate the state as much as N.C. State and North Carolina fans do, and they go at each other.
But the consistent excellence of both North Carolina and Duke, as NC State has had a few slippages in the previous decades, has led to it taking center stage permanently in the hearts and minds of both fanbases.
"The very first thing is the advent of television coverage. So it's in the mid-80s, mid to late 80's where more great games are on. You're looking for marquee games to showcase," Krzyzewski said. "In the mid-80s -- '85, '86 -- then we started to be an elite program. Then they were elite, and then TV was there and boom, it became the biggest game. So it's a matter of a few things hitting. But having two outstanding programs who were both going for national honors, that helps."
The two schools have gone without a Final Four for five straight seasons, but they won consecutive national titles (North Carolina in 2009, Duke in 2010). They've both had a team arguably good enough to win it all since (Duke in 2011 and 2013, North Carolina in 2012) only to see injuries derail both.
But they've combined to reach the Final Four in 22 of the last 34 seasons and win eight of the last 33 national titles, four by each school. North Carolina has 18 Final Fours in school history and Duke has 15.
And now, there is a burgeoning generation that grew up knowing nothing but this rivalry.
Players on both teams are included in that.
When standout freshman center Jahlil Okafor committed to Duke, he said, he marked this game on his calendar.
He was there in person last year when then-freshman Jabari Parker scored 30 points against the Tar Heels in Cameron Indoor Stadium in a 12-point Duke win. Watching him and soaking in the environment, he ached to be a part of it.
"The entire game, I wished I was able to put on a Duke jersey and be a part of the rivalry. It was a home game and the atmosphere was crazy. I just remember looking over to he Cameron Crazies ... and thinking to myself, I can't wait to be a part of this legacy," Okafor said.
Both programs respect each other immensely, as UNC senior guard Marcus Paige pointed out. "I think that's what makes this rivalry special is the mutual respect. Obviously I'm not a huge Duke fan, I don't love them, but I really respect them. I think that's the common theme in the rivalry."
But Johnson thinks of it a bit differently.
"The one that really stuck out was the one time Tyler (Hansbrough) get elbowed in the face here (in 2007)," Johnson said. "That really kind of set the tone. It was like, 'Whoa, this game is really serious.' It's just an honor to be able to be playing in this game."
From a basketball perspective, it's almost always tough to analyze this game because both teams tend to deviate from form at least a little bit. Often, a role player from one or both teams steps up with a big performance to help his team win the game. Or maybe one team that's struggled hitting 3-pointers suddenly gets hot, or the unexpected team dominates on the glass.
North Carolina and Duke's defenses have both been maligned this season, though, and North Carolina is looking to bounce back in a big way.
North Carolina is still licking its wounds after Pitt shot well over 60 percent against them in a road loss on Saturday in one of North Carolina's worst defensive performances in quite some time. Probably a bad time to be facing one of the best offenses in the nation, then.
"If you can guard your man without help, it helps tremendously against Duke," Paige said.
That's what makes it tricky with Duke -- double-team Okafor in the post and he can kick it out to an open shooter. Duke shoots over 38 percent from three, and as Williams correctly pointed out, no one on North Carolina's entire roster shoots that high from beyond the arc. But it's a matter of containing dribble penetration and not forcing a teammate to help.
And, Johnson said, team defense -- particular on Okafor. One breakdown elsewhere could lead to an easy look for someone else.
"It's a team effort. It's going to take all five guys to be able to stop him. We've just got to get the ball out of his hands," Johnson said.
Duke, meanwhile, had a tough period on defense of about 2 1/2 weeks, according to Krzyzewski, and have recovered since.
"Two things, I think -- one was conference play, adjusting to conference play. And two, we could not shoot for about five games. I thought it impacted on us defensively," Krzyzewski said. "Since then, we've played more, different types of defense, but our defense overall has been very good. I think it's sometimes outstanding."
A trademark of Duke's defense over the years has been to cut the head off of the snake, so to speak. The snake in this case is North Carolina, and the head is Paige.
Paige had 24 points in Cameron last year, but he's had some bad games against the Blue Devils as well. Senior Quinn Cook has developed into a team leader for Duke on both ends, and he's shown what he can do against some of the league's better guards, frustrating Notre Dame senior Jerian Grant into an awful performance at Cameron just a few weeks ago.
That's what Cook and Duke's entire perimeter will seek to do in this game.
"He's the head of their snake. He makes those guys go. He's their best player. I like to accept the challenge. Every guy on the perimeter likes to accept the challenge with the best players in the country," Cook said.
"He and myself have had some great battles the two years that he's been there, and we're looking for another one tomorrow. We all want to see how good our defense is against one of the best players in the country."
The key, Duke freshman point guard Tyus Jones said, will be what both teams do early. Don't let Paige get into a rhythm, for one. They can't let him see the ball go in the basket.
But for Jones himself -- and three other Duke freshmen -- this will be their first foray into this rivalry. So they have to keep themselves in check, too.
"A lot of times, people make the mistake of -- the adrenaline is flowing and they'll get too excited and worked up in warmups and by game time, they're gassed," Jones said. "So try to stay grounded, try to stay level and just let the game come to you."
