I lived in Durham when Jordan. Perkins and Worthy played at UNC
NC State won the "Cardiac Pack" national championship over Houston
Viriginia had Ralph Sampson
And K was building Duke with Alarie, Bilas, Dawkins and Amaker.
Every matchup was great.
NCSU fans hated UNC and Duke.
And Valvano was viewed by non NCSU fans as a northern interloper.
But DUKE -UNC was the rivarly.
That was THE game that mattered for both schools.
And at the same time it was Syracuse-Georgetown.
Syracuse-Georgetown was up there with the top 3 rivalries in all of sports, in addition to UNC-Duke and Red Sox - Yankees.
Orange fans back then know what it was like...the passion and the excitement.
Newer fans have heard about it.
We're not in the same conference any more...so the intensity has waned.
Todays students have no idea.
They print up silly "Beat Duke" shirts.
The pusuit of football $ ruined things.
But there is tradition.
The SU- G-town game still matters a lot to a lot of us.
If the schools were smart they'd fan the flames to keep the rivalry alive,
Because genuine rivalries can't be created and can't be forced.
They happen spontaneously...usually because of specific incidents and geographic proximity.
And stop looking for phony "rivals" in the ACC.
The Orange are cultural misfits there.
Rivalries spontaneously happen...they're not planned crcreations.