(F) UNC and Duke are likely to be our 2 biggest rivalries for awhile, but anything is possible, especially with the ongoing conference shifts, coaches retiring, and programs rising and falling in prominence. I do agree though, that it takes both sides feeling it for it to be a big time rivalry, and I am not sure at what point we will do enough to earn that. Remember when new teams entered the Big East? Did we immediately consider any of them a rivalry?
With Georgetown beating us and closing out Manley(although that was a bit before my time), and JT having the gall to make his statement, that's how a rivalry starts. That Laettner stomp 2 posts above mine is another example. Even though Duke/UNC (or any others evetually like Miami, NC State, etc) could be tough opponents and games we look forward too, I think it's tough to argue that there will be any sort of a 2-way grudge like we had with Georgetown, and to an extent UConn. As others have said it can take something painful, or something a bit outlandish(like Georgetown, which then built with the next ingredient), or a long power struggle(as with UConn). I have nothing against anyone getting excited as some have suggested others do, but I don't expect any instant 2 way rivalry with the magical feel we had with Georgetown. Right now Duke coming to the Dome has the ingredient of novelty because we rarely schedule top tier out of conference programs like Duke/UNC/UK/KU, etc(which I had wished for, for ages) like each of those schools seems to manage to do annually, and we have only one school picked above us in the new(weak) conference this year. Even with the novelty, I don't see ESPN playing Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" to open the broadcast vs Duke like they did when Billy Owens and Alonzo Mourning squared off for the first time. Do you? To me, that's what a rivalry feels like and as excited as I will be, it will not be the same as that. Possibly it could be someday.