Fansided

NCAA basketball rivalries: Ranking the top 25 college basketball rivalries

By Joe Weidenburner

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: A fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels (L) and the Duke Blue Devils pose for a photo while holding a sign referring to the Duke/UNC rivalry during the semifinals of the ACC Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 10, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: A fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels (L) and the Duke Blue Devils pose for a photo while holding a sign referring to the Duke/UNC rivalry during the semifinals of the ACC Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 10, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
26 of 26
Next
Best NCAA basketball rivalries
(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

No. 1 – Duke Blue Devils vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

  • All-Time Series: North Carolina leads 139-114

By any measure, this is the greatest rivalry in college basketball and ranks among the greatest rivalries in sports. These two programs are the creme de la creme of NCAA Blue Bloods.

Championships, personalities, and a bitter animosity bolstered by a stone’s throw distance between campuses. Public school versus private school. Locals versus out-of-town. When you conceptualize the perfect sports rivalry, particularly at the collegiate level, this is the ideal output.

North Carolina has six NCAA national championships, third all-time, along with 32 ACC regular-season championships and 20 ACC tournament championships. Duke is tied for 4th all-time with five national titles, has 19 ACC regular-season championships and 21 ACC tournament championships. That these programs play at least twice annually is a treat for all college basketball fans and it is only a rare occurrence that these matchups do not deliver the goods.

Game of Note: March 15, 2019 – ACC Tournament Semifinals – 3-seed Duke def 2-seed North Carolina 74-73

Choosing just one game from the most storied of all college basketball rivalries to be the representative of what this rivalry is all about is an impossible task. Everyone has a favorite. Everyone has a “where were you when” moment in this series. Even in this past shortened season, the two teams combined for a memorable game where Duke pulled off a tremendous comeback, Tre Jones pulled off a remarkable feat to send the game to overtime, and still North Carolina had every opportunity to seal the win until Duke pulled out the win at the end. From the Austin Rivers game to the Tyler Hansbrough dominance through a bloodied face courtesy of Duke’s Gerald Henderson, the moments from this greatest of rivalries are ubiquitous.

Four our game we go back to last year’s ACC Tournament, where the two programs met in the semifinals as top-6 ranked teams in the country. If ever there was a matchup representative of this rivalry, this was it, given the two programs’ national ranks at the time, lacing up the sneakers for the chance to play in the ACC Championship game en route to the NCAA Tournament. The stage was set and the game delivered a marvelous bit of drama and back-and-forth action, until Zion Williamson‘s offensive rebound and put back with 30 seconds to play, part of his game-high 31 point effort, sealed the deal for the Blue Devils.

As we have seen, college basketball is full of rivalries based on history, geography, and animosity. These rivalries are what we love about sports in general, and are a special part of what makes us love college basketball in particular. Whether a battle of mid-majors in Nashville or the grand-daddy of all college sports rivalries in Duke-North Carolina, the matchups between teams on this list are sure to bring happiness to all college hoops fans.

dark. Next. Best NCAA basketball player ever from every state

For more NCAA basketball news, analysis, opinion and features, check out more from the FanSided college basketball section to stay on top of the latest action.