Should Duke and NC State Play More Often? NC State's Perspective

"I just don't think that's fair"--Dave Doeren

NC State and Duke play each other for the first time since 2013 and in Raleigh for the first time since 2009. The expanded ACC schedule has turned the game between neighboring rivals into a rare occasion.

NC State coach Dave Doeren isn’t a fan of the schedule.

“I think, in general, you’d like for every recruiting class to have a chance to play every team in the league,” he said. “The way our rotation is set up currently, we play UNC every year and one of the other teams (in the Coastal Division) every seven years. So I just don’t think that’s fair.”

ACC teams play their divisional rivals and one designated opponent from the other division each year. For State, UNC is the intra-division opponent. For Duke, it’s Wake Forest. That leaves room for one other opponent from the other division each season.

That means that State and Duke are on the outs, which Doeren would like to change.

“Not just because they’re down the street, but because you come to play in the ACC, you should play every team. It would be great if you could play home and away against every team, particularly when you’re talking about a team in the Triangle. It’s pretty crazy to think you could come to NC State and never play Duke in your entire career. That’s happened for multiple players.”

It may not have the ferocity of Duke-Carolina or State-Carolina, but it would still appeal to the local community.

“I’m excited we get to play them,” Doeren said. “I don’t know if they’ll ever change our scheduling model, but I’ll be someone pounding on the table for them to do that. It’s a natural rivalry. You have a team within 30 miles. You go into every grocery store, you see Duke. You see NC State. You see UNC. There’s stuff everywhere, and yet, we don’t play them. To me, it’s a natural rivalry game. It makes sense geographically to play a team that close to you in your own league. It’s kind of a common sense deal in my opinion.”

Duke coach David Cutcliffe has a very different perspective on the rivalry. Here are his thoughts.