Duke, UNC Victories Have Been Following A Distinct Pattern

They're at it again.

Duke and North Carolina follow so distinct a pattern in their annual series, it's predictable. First time around, go with Duke. Return engagement, bet on the Tar Heels. It's not infallible, but as a predictive devise it's pretty good.

That routine was confirmed yet again earlier this week when UNC came to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the season's first meeting of the old rivals, and the Blue Devils escaped with a 92-90 overtime victory.

Since Roy Williams came to Chapel Hill in 2004, the teams have met on each other's home courts on 23 different occasions. Location isn't a major factor in predicting outcomes. What is important is the order in which they play.

So, according to form, in their initial meeting of the 2015 season the Devils won. That's the ninth time in a dozen tries they've taken the series opener when Williams is on the Carolina bench.

Next time around, it will be UNC's turn to come out on top. The Heels are 7-4 in return engagements in the contemporary iteration of the long-running neighborhood drama.

Regardless of timing or locale, on occasion one program may get the edge over the other, presumably due to quality of personnel. We're currently in one of those periods - Duke has won nine of the last 12 meetings dating to the start of the 2010 season.