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Duke v North Carolina

Source: Streeter Lecka / Getty

Saturday night in the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, one of the best rivalries in all of the sports will add a new chapter to it’s story as the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils travel down US 15-501 to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in a game that will determine who is in first place in the ACC as we head just past the midway point in conference play. The Blue Devils, on paper, are the better team heading into this matchup, but the Tar Heels have been a much different team in the Smith Center this season than they have been on the road, where a lot of their issues have popped up.

Earlier this morning, Jay Bilas, college basketball analyst for ESPN and former Duke Blue Devils forward, joined the Mac Attack and said that none of those factors really matter when these two teams meet.

“I think the rivalry trumps all of that. For some of these players it will be the first time they played in it. In either Duke-Carolina game last year, you didn’t get the same feel. It was the same intesity by the players, but the intensity of the crowd didn’t add into it.”

-Jay Bilas, ESPN

Duke v North Carolina

Source: Streeter Lecka / Getty