Anyone who just moved to the state and wants to know more about how hot the rivalry between Duke and Carolina is should just go back and look at the pre- and post-game interviews with fans in 2022 when the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill beat Duke in the Final Four in basketball to ruin a picture-perfect ending to Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching career.

While the rivalry is best known for its basketball battles, this year both football teams are very strong and they will go head-to-head on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill at 8 p.m.

The UNC Tarheels are favored by 14.5 points but there’s hardly anyone in the state of North Carolina who doesn’t believe the prime-time nationally televised game will go down to the wire.

While the game will be huge for fans, just as it always is, a few weeks ago this game was headed toward being an epic battle between two highly ranked teams with the winner having a clear path to the ACC Championship game and a date with Florida State.

At that time, both Duke and UNC were undefeated and ranked in the Top 25; however, then both teams hit a rough patch.

Duke Quarterback Riley Leonard got hurt and the Duke offense hasn’t been the same since, and Carolina had two bad back-to-back conference losses that knocked the team out of the Top 25 – though the Heels did back in at the 24th spot this week after beating Campbell badly.

So, though the November 11 game won’t be a battle between two teams who early in the season were undefeated and secretly dreaming of a National Championship in football, it will still be a game that pits Duke against Carolina – which is always intense no matter where or when or what the situation.

About