Is Duke/UNC the greatest rivalry in college sports?

[umdukie]

I personally think it is. You have two teams that are always top ranked, separated by only 8 miles, have two hall of fame coaches, have incredible NCAA tournament success, have graduated NBA stars, have very intense fan bases, have had a lot of crazy matchups, have great traditions, etc.

I'm from Michigan and I'm tired of all my friends back home who think Michigan-Ohio State football is the greatest college rivalry ever. Maybe historically because of age but I don't think the rivalry is relevant anymore. Ohio State is a top-ranked team but always gets trampled by the best that the SEC and the Big 12 have to offer and Michigan is one of the worst D-1 football programs in existence PERIOD. The coaches aren't even that good. Tressel and Rodriguez??? They ain't no Hayes and Shembechler...that's for sure. To top it off, the Big 10 isn't even a good football conference.

Anyway, how do you guys think Duke/UNC compares to other prominent rivalries? Discuss.

[PumpkinFunk]

For basketball? Absolutely the biggest one.

It's hard to compare basketball rivalries with other sports, though. I'd list Michigan-OSU, Florida-Georgia, and Bama-Auburn as the biggest football ones... and those are pretty comparable to Duke-Carolina in their own right.

[jv001]

Duke vs. unc is the best rivalry in sports. No doubt. Better than Yankees-Redsox, Cardinals-Cubs, Ohio St-Michigan, Lakers-Celtics, GA-Florida and any others you want to mention. I dislike unc so much that I hate to see them even mentioned on this website. Go Duke!

[Wander]

Auburn-Bama and OSU-UM sure, but Florida-Georgia is absolutely nowhere near the discussion. From a fan's perspective, barely anyone in Florida particularly cares about Georgia, at least not anymore than Duke fans care about Wake Forest or NC State. Florida fans dislike FSU far more.

[jv001]

Auburn-Bama and OSU-UM sure, but Florida-Georgia is absolutely nowhere near the discussion. From a fan's perspective, barely anyone in Florida particularly cares about Georgia, at least not anymore than Duke fans care about Wake Forest or NC State. Florida fans dislike FSU far more.

Did not know that. Thanks for the info.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Duke vs. unc is the best rivalry in sports. No doubt. Better than Yankees-Redsox,
I dislike unc so much that I hate to see them even mentioned on this website. Go Duke!

Duke vs. unc is the best college rivalry. Period. Any sport. But of course the success of the two basketball teams makes it so nationwide. But don't dismiss the Yankees - red sox rivalry so quickly. Every bit of passion that permeates Duke - unc permeates Yanks - red sux. The fans live in close proximity to each other, especially in Connecticut, but NY and Boston is the original air shuttle route (OK, NY - Washington may have claim to that title). The Curse of the Bambino and (until 2004, grrrrrrr) long dominance of the Yankees provided decades of super intense bragging rights and hard feelings.

I notice that you have followed my rule of not capitalizing unc. It is, after all, a sign of disrespect!

Rivalries. Gotta love 'em!

[Kedsy]

Duke vs. unc is the best college rivalry. Period. Any sport. But of course the success of the two basketball teams makes it so nationwide. But don't dismiss the Yankees - red sox rivalry so quickly. Every bit of passion that permeates Duke - unc permeates Yanks - red sux. The fans live in close proximity to each other, especially in Connecticut, but NY and Boston is the original air shuttle route (OK, NY - Washington may have claim to that title). The Curse of the Bambino and (until 2004, grrrrrrr) long dominance of the Yankees provided decades of super intense bragging rights and hard feelings.

The problem with the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is until five years ago the Yankees completely dominated it. It's not much of a rivalry if the same team always wins. Duke/Carolina has had streaks of one team dominating the other, but it's been back and forth for 60 years. The only reason Yankees/Red Sox is even in the discussion is the NY press makes such a big deal over it, but you need more than that to make a classic rivalry.

[The Gordog]

The problem with the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is until five years ago the Yankees completely dominated it. It's not much of a rivalry if the same team always wins. Duke/Carolina has had streaks of one team dominating the other, but it's been back and forth for 60 years. The only reason Yankees/Red Sox is even in the discussion is the NY press makes such a big deal over it, but you need more than that to make a classic rivalry.

1. Players switch teams in pro baseball, not so in college hoops
2. Players interact a lot in college, often having played together in HS or summer leagues
3. Fans have to work with each other in the entire state.

No question in my mind Duke vs. unc is the greatest rivalry in sports, period.

[Ders24]

1. Players switch teams in pro baseball, not so in college hoops
2. Players interact a lot in college, often having played together in HS or summer leagues
3. Fans have to work with each other in the entire state.

No question in my mind Duke vs. unc is the greatest rivalry in sports, period.

Completely agree. My experience with the Sox/Yankees is that it doesn't touch Duke/unc. Some of that might be my personal investment though.

[rockymtn devil]

I personally think it is. You have two teams that are always top ranked, separated by only 8 miles, have two hall of fame coaches, have incredible NCAA tournament success, have graduated NBA stars, have very intense fan bases, have had a lot of crazy matchups, have great traditions, etc.

I'm from Michigan and I'm tired of all my friends back home who think Michigan-Ohio State football is the greatest college rivalry ever. Maybe historically because of age but I don't think the rivalry is relevant anymore. Ohio State is a top-ranked team but always gets trampled by the best that the SEC and the Big 12 have to offer and Michigan is one of the worst D-1 football programs in existence PERIOD. The coaches aren't even that good. Tressel and Rodriguez??? They ain't no Hayes and Shembechler...that's for sure. To top it off, the Big 10 isn't even a good football conference.

Anyway, how do you guys think Duke/UNC compares to other prominent rivalries? Discuss.

I hate to be that guy, but when does Ohio State lose to B12 teams? The last four Buckeye games against the B12--as far as my memory can tell--were a win over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl, a beatdown of Oklahoma State (with Ohio State's backup QB), a close loss to Texas in Columbus, and a pretty big win against Texas in Austin. And, while currently down, the B10 was the dominant BCS conference from 1998 until about 2004. It will be back soon. Remember when the SEC was talked about like Tyler Hansbrough? Yeah, me neither...

I agree with you about Tressel. I mean, it's not like he's won 5 national titles and made a team with a penguin mascot a national power.

To the question at hand, it's too difficult to determine what's the "greatest rivalry" (as if such a thing exists). Duke-Carolina is fantastic. So is OSU-UM, and countless others. But it's apples and oranges. What makes OSU-UM great--the high stakes of college football and the way that game shapes the B10 and national landscape--can't be found in Duke-Carolina because its big manifestation is basketball, where individual games don't have as much riding on them. On the other hand, the close proximity of the schools and the cultural/demographic differences that make Duke-Carolina great are absent from other rivalries, including Ohio State-Michigan

[Channing]

if we are talking greatest rivalries in sports, you have to include Galsgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers. The bitterness certainly trumps anything in the US.

as for US rivalries - I would argue that the Iron bowl is a more heated rivalry than OU/UM, at least to those with a vested interest. OU/UM gets more national recognition.

Duke/Carolina is great, and obviously my favorite, but lets not forget that line monitors were out trying to get students to fill the student section for the home game in 2002 (I think it was - when UNC won like 8 games).

[kmspeaks]

1. Players switch teams in pro baseball, not so in college hoops
2. Players interact a lot in college, often having played together in HS or summer leagues
3. Fans have to work with each other in the entire state.

No question in my mind Duke vs. unc is the greatest rivalry in sports, period.

I guess it depends on how you define the greatness of a rivalry. Is it the hatred, emotion, etc between the players or between the fans. If you're just counting the fan base then you could make more of an argument for Red Sox/Yankees or any other professional rivalries (even then I still think Duke/unc is the best). However if you want to look at the actual players, then there's no way Red Sox/Yankees has a place in the discussion. Johnny Damon obviously didn't hate the Yankees too much.

[rasputin]

I would put our hoops rivalry with unc at the top, but Army-Navy football has to fit in somewhere too.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Overall, when you do not separate individual sports, Duke-UNC hands down wins. Does any other college rivalry have a similar trophy such as the Carlyle Cup? I don't think any other schools have an award claiming overall bragging rights for the year based on all sports.

[weezie]

Duke vs. unc is the best rivalry in sports. No doubt. I dislike unc so much that I hate to see them even mentioned on this website. Go Duke!

Yes indeed. And thank God I'm on the right side of the rivalry. Ugh, can you imagine spending your whole life hating on the Blue Devils? Horrendous!

[Rudy]

Duke/unc at the top. All the others are arguments for 2nd place. You could argue Harvard/Yale is a sports rivalry to compete with any of the others. Those student groups despise/distrust/compete with each other across the board, all sports, all academic and research endeavors. The football game between the two, going since 1875, is always the last game of the year.

Yale's football coach just resigned under pressure despite a 70-49 record over 12 years, 23-7 over the past 3 years, two Ivy titles,, and last year was named Coach of the Year by the New England Football Writers Association. But his record against Harvard was 4-8 and 1-7 over the last 8 games.

[DukeWarhead]

Having graduated grad school from Duke and then having taught at West Point for three years, I can tell you that the Army/Navy rivalry is just as substantive as Duke/UNC. For basketball fans, obviously Duke and UNC is the best rivalry, it always will be. But for everything else, Army/Navy beats out the other rivalries hands down. It's equal parts hate and mutual respect. It's the only rivalry that can make a 1-10 season seem like a huge success. It's the only rivalry I've seen that means absolutely everything to the players - who are not going on to professional sports, but are going off to a much different career. There is something really pure about it.
I'll always care more about seeing a Duke win over UNC, but the depth and purity of the Army/Navy rivalry is truly unique.

[crimsonandblue]

Overall, when you do not separate individual sports, Duke-UNC hands down wins. Does any other college rivalry have a similar trophy such as the Carlyle Cup? I don't think any other schools have an award claiming overall bragging rights for the year based on all sports.

I'm certain many other rival schools have something akin to the Carlyle Cup. Kansas and Missouri have the annual Border War, now PC'd to Border Showdown. A trophy is handed out for the overall results, but the winner of the football game also takes a commemorative drum and recently, a trophy.

I would imagine other rivals do this.

[Stray Gator]

Auburn-Bama and OSU-UM sure, but Florida-Georgia is absolutely nowhere near the discussion. From a fan's perspective, barely anyone in Florida particularly cares about Georgia, at least not anymore than Duke fans care about Wake Forest or NC State. Florida fans dislike FSU far more.

I don't know where you got this notion, but as a Gator season ticket holder who has missed less than a dozen home games at the Swamp in the past 35 years, and who lived "among the savages" in Tallahassee through most of those years, I can assure you that the majority of Gator fans still consider Georgia to be our most hated rival, with FSU a close second. For younger fans, the gap between those two may have closed somewhat because Florida has won 16 of the last 19 from the Dawgs; but their 2007 "dancing in the end zone" win quickly rekindled the fire. And although there was a period during the 90s and early 00s when UF and FSU were slugging it out annually for national honors, now that the Gators have whipped the Noles for 5 straight years, they are sliding more towards the outer bands of UF fans' radar. The UF-FSU game is an exciting event, but it's not comparable to the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party and the jousting between fans that surrounds it. Keep in mind that the Florida-Georgia rivalry not only has a much longer history, but is usually a crucial battle in the annual war for SEC supremecy.

[blazindw]

I grew up outside Ann Arbor, so in my mind, Duke-UNC hoops and Michigan-OSU football are T-1 for best rivalry in America. My mom's from Alabama, and I spent a lot of time there...the Iron Bowl is a great rivalry, but in my mind doesn't hold a candle to Duke-UNC and Michigan-OSU.

As far as others, I think that Harvard-Yale deserves some mention as well, and I agree with those who say that Army-Navy is a special rivalry. I've always wanted to go to a game just to feel the atmosphere and the pride on both sides. Also, having attended Tha U and with my brother set to graduate from Texas on Saturday, Tha U-FSU in football is a hot rivalry as well as The Red River Shootout.