04-05-06 would be way up there.
This may be a bit premature, seeing as we will still have at least one more matchup against UNC this season, but I have been wondering all day about whether or not we are currently in a 3-year highpoint for Duke in the head-to-head series. Specifically, I mean this in the sense of the legendary wins we seem to be having at least once a year. Consider:
2010:
- 82-50. 'Nuff said.*
2011:
- In Cameron, we erased Duke's largest half-time deficit in half-a-century. And I believe it was also the loudest decibel-level ever recorded in CIS.*
- In the ACC Championship, a revenge blow-out (which was itself due to an @UNC revenge-blowout) against the regular season winners for all the ACC marbles.
2012:
- And now the Rivers game. His coming-out party. I see no need to recount the details here.
(*I am constantly both honored and humbled that I was lucky enough to be present in Cameron for both of these games.)
Can any three- (or four- or two- or whatever) year period top that? What do yall think?
04-05-06 would be way up there.
If you want to extend it to four years, I started as a freshman in 1997-98, which had the best Duke-Carolina game I've seen, the comeback in Cameron. UNC won the other two that year big, but Duke won every other game against UNC in my 4 years with the exception of 2001 in Cameron, which was a great game in its own right. Then a couple weeks later, the game after Boozer broke his foot, Duke ran UNC out of Cameron with Casey Sanders and Duhon starting for the first time, probably the most satisfying Duke-UNC game for me.
Well, to be fair here, while I would count the senior night loss for the purposes of this thread, I wouldn't count the championship. I'm mostly curious about the head-to-head series. (Then again, that's just me, and lord knows that the OP has no special rights to moderate a given thread.)
Any way you cut it, the ball has been mostly bouncing Duke's way ever since TBP Skyped (is "hubrissed" a word?) his way on over to roys welcoming arms!!!!
Wait until this year is over before asking that question. We haven't seen the last of Carolina this year, by any means.
Af first blush these appear to me to be the best 4 year stretches for the good guys:
1951-1954: Duke 8 UNC 1 (including 8 straight)
1961-1964: Duke 8 UNC 1 (7 straight)
1999 - 2002: Duke 10 UNC 1
In terms of intensity, 91-93 would be the best. Three year period when both teams won national championships, both made the final four in '91. Can't remember the rivalry ever being that intense. As I recall, they played each other about even during
that time.
Starter - the game in question was at the Dean Dome, and I only correct you because that fact made it 100X sweeter. That was an incredibly satisfying game because, suddenly, we were back in the title hunt after most, myself included, thought the dream broke with Boozer's foot. Plus, they assumed they were going to kill us.
That stretch included one of my absolute favorite games in the rivalry - the 2001 ACC Championship game. UNC came into the tournament as the 1 seed, Duke as the 2 seed, with cocky Matty Doh at the helm. That game was the beginning of the wheels falling off his stewardship of the program. It was not a great game - it was a domination. Duke utterly and completely dominated UNC and the Tarheels gave up. They quit on their coach, to the point that Dickie V was calling them out for it during the broadcast. At that moment, the hint of challenge that Doh had presented was snuffed out and Duke's dominance over UNC was complete.
are we TRYING To anger the schnaferuade godz or whatever?
"One POSSIBLE future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.".... Kyle Reese