Astonishing Numbers Set Stage for Duke Basketball Clash at UNC

UNC basketball has won three straight contests, including the back-to-back road victories by the No. 16 Tar Heels (17-4, 5-3 ACC) last week. Duke basketball is riding a nine-game winning streak, and the No. 4 Blue Devils (20-1, 9-0 ACC) are off to the program's best start since 2005-06, the season before Jon Scheyer arrived in Durham for his freshman campaign as a guard.

ALSO READ: Blue Devil Recruiting Prospect Kager Knueppel Grabs Another Offer

Granted, Hubert Davis' Tar Heels and Scheyer's Blue Devils each have one more outing before they square off in UNC's Dean E. Smith Center — a mere 11-mile drive from Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium — at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN) for their first of two meetings this season.

But it's never the wrong time to discuss the incredible nature of the Tobacco Road rivalry.

As ESPN's Bryan Ives pointed out on Sunday in anticipation of the Duke-UNC meeting in Chapel Hill, "Saturday will mark the 88th meeting in which both Duke and North Carolina are ranked."

"That is 47 more than any other matchup," Ives added in his post on social media, thereby providing more evidence as to why the rivalry is considered the best in college basketball.

Saturday will mark the 88th meeting in which both Duke and North Carolina are ranked.

That is 47 more than any other matchup.

In those games:

North Carolina: 44 wins, 77.9 PPG
Duke: 43 wins, 77.4 PPG
— Bryan Ives (@awaytoworthy) February 1, 2026

Duke and UNC Almost Tied in Their Ranked vs. Ranked Scoring Averages

The Tar Heels have prevailed in 44 of those previous 87 battles between the ranked archrivals; of course, that means the Blue Devils have come out on top the other 43 times. Arguably even more remarkable, though, is how close they are in average points across those bouts: UNC at 77.9 per game and Duke at 77.4 per game.

Duke, which has won three straight versus the Tar Heels and enjoys a 5-2 advantage in the Jon Scheyer era, welcomes the unranked Boston College Eagles (9-12, 2-6 ACC) to Cameron at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday (ESPN). UNC, which boasts a 145-120 edge in its all-time series against the Blue Devils, first hosts the unranked Syracuse Orange (13-9, 4-5 ACC) at 7 p.m. ET Monday (ESPN).

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer hugs UNC basketball head coach Hubert Davis — Feb 3, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis with Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer before the game at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

It's worth noting that UNC hasn't dropped four straight to Duke in almost a decade (four in a row from March 2014 to February 2016). Meanwhile, Duke hasn't lost four straight to UNC since the 1990s (falling seven straight times from March 1993 to March 1996).

Stay tuned to Duke Blue Devils On SI for more Duke basketball news.

As always, make sure you stay up to date with all Duke content by following us on Facebook, by clicking HERE, and following us on X (formerly Twitter) HERE.