My view on any year Carolina wins the regular-season: Congratulations, Cliff Ellis is applauding; you have won a piece of cloth that says "winner." As we all know, however, that piece of cloth means about as much as a participant ribbon at the local Pinewood Derby.
That obviously means I still want to beat the hell out of them and win the the regular season for seeding purposes to the real show, the ACC men's basketball tournament. And, also as we all know, Duke has won the real ACC championship nine of the past 12 years. Carolina? Well, just two. But they do during that time span have a tomb full of participant ribbons. Oh wait, the same number of ACC #1 seeds as Duke. Five.
Upon closer look. Since 1991 (last 20 years)
ACC #1 Seeds
Duke 11, North Carolina 7
ACC Championships
Duke 10, North Carolina 6
National Championships (for good measure)
Duke 4, North Carolina 3
Head-to-Head (humiliation)
Duke 27, North Carolina 21
Pretty telling numbers, I think. Glad I decided to examine it all. Definitely makes me feel better about myself.