UNC, Duke and basketball
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The North Carolina Tar Heels are currently without their best player, college basketball freshman phenom Caleb Wilson.
North Carolina hosts Duke at the Dean E. Smith Center. Both the No. 4 Blue Devils (21-1) and No. 18 Tar Heels (18-4) are led by a pair of future top-10 NBA draft picks in true freshmen Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson,
The North Carolina Tar Heels beat Duke Blue Devils at the Smith Center in the 266th game of the Tobacco Road rivalry. Here are the highlights.
Before the UNC vs. Duke basketball game, explore the history of the rivalry when the first annual matchup is played at the Smith Center.
The first round of the Tobacco Road rivalry brought a thrilling finish as Seth Trimble’s three-pointer lifted North Carolina past Duke. It also drew strong TV ratings as it became the third-most watched game of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season to date.
Swish Appeal on MSN
Why Duke-UNC, UT-UT and MSU-UM are three must-watch women’s college basketball rivalry games
Duke vs. UNC, Texas vs. Tennessee and Michigan State vs. Michigan are consequential rivalry games.
At noon ET Saturday (ESPN), the Blue Devils will have a chance to record their 10th win over a ranked foe, as Duke is set to host Virginia (24-3, 12-2 ACC) in Cameron Indoor Stadium. First, though, the group faces a road bout against the unranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-15, 3-11 ACC) in Purcell Pavilion at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday (ESPN).
Here is UNC basketball's ranking in the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll on Feb. 23, plus a breakdown of the Tar Heels in other polls, including the NET.