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Duke And UNC Provide A Supreme Level Of Enduring Excellence

Nothing like it anywhere.

Duke v North Carolina
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 08: Wendell Moore Jr. #0 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after making the game winning shot to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels 98-96 with teammates Joey Baker #13 and Jordan Goldwire #14 during their game at Dean Smith Center on February 08, 2020 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

There’s a good chance when Duke and North Carolina meet annually – this year on Feb. 5 and March 5 — one or both teams will be worthy national championship contenders. This season that’s probably Duke; the Tar Heels have yet to crash the ’22 polls and don’t appear sufficiently consistent or polished to make a title run.

The history of the annual series is so crowded with high-achieving squads, however, it’s a surprise when neither is prominent on the national stage when titles are being contested.

Consider that over the 42 years Mike Krzyzewski has been at Duke – not counting the 2020 season, when there was no NCAA tournament, or the ’22 season still in progress – either the Tar Heels or Blue Devils or both have been to the NCAA regional finals 33 times.

To repeat: Duke or Carolina made it to the Elite Eight, the fourth round of the NCAAs, in 33 of the 40 most recent tournaments, 82.5 percent.

Regional finalists tend to come and go in popular appreciation. Win and you’ve reached the Final Four, the pinnacle weekend. Lose and you’re gone, stinging from doing well but falling short at the threshold.

For many programs, getting to a Final Four is a much coveted and seductively satisfying achievement, an end in itself when there are two games left to play. The Tar Heels and Blue Devils are accustomed to getting that far, their coaches and support staffs undaunted by the distractions.

That’s made it easier for the pair to make it to 25 Final Fours across four decades, cashing in a remarkable 62.5 percent of their chances, approaching two of every three years.

And of course the schools combined for 10 national titles during those years, one in every four: 1982, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017.

For now, let others revert to trotting out lists of favorite plays, favorite game outcomes and favorite cliffhangers, sorting through memory like kids fingering their collection of shiniest pennies. We just offer this list of achievements to outline the very promising possibilities of where one or both neighbors will wind up when the games are done.

TOP OF THE HEAP
Duke and North Carolina in Championship Competition Since 1981
Year NCAA Champ Final 4 Elite 8 ACC Champ ACCT Final
1981 NA UNC UNC UNC NA
1982 UNC UNC UNC UNC NA
1983 NA NA NA NA NA
1984 NA NA NA NA Duke
1985 NA NA NA NA UNC
1986 NA Duke Duke NA NA
1987 NA NA UNC NA UNC
1988 NA Duke Duke Duke UNC
1989 NA Duke Duke UNC Duke
1990 NA Duke Duke NA NA
1991 Duke Duke,UNC Duke,UNC UNC Duke
1992 Duke Duke Duke Duke UNC
1993 UNC UNC UNC NA UNC
1994 NA Duke Duke UNC NA
1995 NA UNC UNC NA UNC
1996 NA NA NA NA NA
1997 NA UNC UNC UNC NA
1998 NA UNC UNC,Duke UNC Duke
1999 NA Duke Duke Duke UNC
2000 NA UNC UNC Duke NA
2001 Duke Duke Duke Duke UNC
2002 NA NA NA Duke NA
2003 NA NA NA Duke NA
2004 NA Duke Duke NA Duke
2005 UNC UNC UNC Duke NA
2006 NA NA NA Duke NA
2007 NA NA UNC UNC NA
2008 NA UNC UNC UNC NA
2009 UNC UNC UNC Duke NA
2010 Duke Duke Duke Duke NA
2011 NA NA UNC Duke UNC
2012 NA NA UNC NA UNC
2013 NA NA Duke NA UNC
2014 NA NA NA NA NA
2015 Duke Duke Duke NA UNC
2016 NA UNC UNC UNC NA
2017 UNC UNC UNC Duke NA
2018 NA NA Duke NA UNC
2019 NA NA Duke Duke NA
2020 No NCAAs
2021 NA NA NA NA NA
All 10 25 33 24 18