The Carolina-Duke rivalry is finally here.
No, not the highly-anticipated men’s basketball clash, but the annual football battle.
Both teams have winning records, which hasn’t always been the case.
Duke is a significantly-improved program with head coach Mike Elko, including an upset of former Top-10 ranked Clemson in its opener, that gave Duke its first ranking of the year.
UNC looked like a fringe College Football Playoff Team through six weeks, winning all six games, including its fifth-straight victory over a ranked Miami squad. After losses to UVA and Georgia Tech knocked them out of the rankings, the Tar Heels responded with a 59-7 smashing of Campbell that put them at 24th in the second CFP rankings.
The Tar Heels and Blue Devils, despite losing standout quarterback Riley Leonard for likely the remainder of 2023, are hanging onto slim hopes of an ACC Championship. Both rivals sit at 3-2 in the ACC, which is a half-game behind Georgia Tech and 1.5 games behind second-place Louisville. If the Cardinals win tonight and FSU beats Miami Saturday, both UNC and Duke are officially eliminated.
Sadly, the likelihood of UNC making the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte is very grim. Louisville could very well lose at Miami next weekend, but there’s no shot that 2-win UVA beats Louisville tomorrow.
Wait, you mean the same UVA team that upset UNC in Chapel Hill?
Yeah, that team.
Regardless of where both teams sit now in the ACC, UNC-Duke is going to be a fun game to watch. Let’s see exactly what you should be looking out for.