<P> The North Carolina--Duke rivalry refers to the rivalry between the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Tar Heels (Carolina) and Duke University Blue Devils (Duke). It most often refers to the athletic rivalries between the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels athletic teams . The North Carolina--Duke rivalry is fierce, particularly in men's college basketball . It is considered one of the most intense rivalries in all of US - sports: a poll conducted by ESPN in 2000 ranked the basketball rivalry as the third greatest North American sports rivalry, and Sports Illustrated on Campus named it the #1 "Hottest Rivalry" in college basketball and the #2 rivalry overall in its November 18, 2003 issue . The intensity of the rivalry is augmented by the proximity of the two universities--they are located only ten miles apart along U.S. Highway 15--501 (also known as Tobacco Road) or eight miles apart in straight - line distance . In addition, both Duke and North Carolina are considered highly prestigious universities, which, coupled with their vastly different funding structures and cultures--North Carolina is a public school while Duke is private--contributes to the ferocity of the rivalry . A recent funny anecdote reported on ESPN quoted one Duke fan as having won a large tournament pool in 2016 because he correctly picked UNC as the National Champion; but the fan then went on to say "It wasn't worth it". </P> <P> Duke and North Carolina battled it out for the first time on January 24, 1920 . The two teams have met at least twice a year since then . The games frequently determine the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) champion; since the ACC's founding in 1953, Duke and North Carolina have combined to win or share 49 ACC regular season titles (77.7% of the total) and 38 tournament titles (59.4% of the total), including 14 of 15 from 1996 to 2011 . The final game of the regular season for both schools alternates between Chapel Hill and Durham and has been played in Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1940 and the Dean E. Smith Center since 1986 . </P> <P> Much like the Alabama - Auburn football rivalry, the North Carolina--Duke rivalry is all the more intense because the two schools have consistently been among the nation's elite men's basketball teams for most of the last 30 years . Both schools are also two of the most victorious programs in NCAA men's basketball history; North Carolina is #3 on the list of all - time winningest programs in Division I Men's Basketball and Duke is #4 . Duke has won five NCAA championships and has appeared in sixteen Final Fours, while North Carolina has won six NCAA championships and appeared in a record twenty Final Fours . Additionally, North Carolina was also retroactively awarded a national championship by the Helms Athletic Foundation in 1942 for their undefeated 1924 season . </P> <P> Combining for ten national championships over the last 36 years, Duke and North Carolina have captured 28% of the national championships, or greater than one every four years . Over the past 18 years, one of the two teams has been the AP pre-season #1 ranked team in the country 8 times (44% of the time). Since 1977--78, Duke or North Carolina has been in the pre-season top three 28 times (70%). Over the entirety of the AP poll (the past 69 years), the teams have been in the pre-season top four 69% of the time . Over this same period, one has been #1 18 times, making it an almost 3 in 10 chance that Duke or North Carolina starts the year at #1 in the last 50 + years . </P>

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