The Duke–North Carolina rivalry in basketball is one of the biggest in all of sports at any level. Highlighted by two premier college basketball programs that are just 10 miles apart with history against one another that dates back to 1920.
You’ll never catch a Duke fan rooting for the Tar Heels and vice versa, but one North Carolina player found himself rooting for the Blue Devils in some strange circumstances during last year’s NCAA Tournament.
NC State went on a historic postseason run last year that took them all the way to the Final Four. Which included an ACC Tournament Championship win over the Tar Heels and an Elite Eight matchup against Duke, where UNC center Armando Bacot revealed he was pulling for the Blue Devils over the Wolfpack.
“I can’t stand NC State,” Bacot told North Carolina basketball alum Theo Pinson on the Run Your Race podcast. “I wanted Duke to win, I wanted Duke to go to the Final Four. I didn’t want NC State to go to the Final Four.”
Before residents of Chapel Hill blow a gasket, Bacot explained his logic. Which apparently was based on the remainder of the March Madness field and the stakes of the Final Four appearance given the history of both respective programs.
“Duke going to the Final Four, they were good enough. And Duke, maybe if they beat Purdue, fine. They weren’t beating UConn, and it would be remembered at Duke for maybe two to three years then after that they didn’t win it all. Like so be it,” Bacot explained.
“But like NC State, they’re never gon’ let this go. They beat us in the championship, then they beat Duke in the Elite Eight, and I blame Duke too,” Bacot added. “Because Duke shouldn’t have lost to them in the ACC Tournament, that’s where it all started. And then you know how it goes in March when a team gets hot, they’re hard to beat.”
The Wolfpack lost four straight games to end the regular season and enter the ACC Tournament as a No. 10 seed. Where’d they go on to win nine games in a row all the way to the Final Four before falling to Purdue. Defeating Duke twice in the process in both tournaments where center DJ Burns became one of the most beloved players in the country.
“Even for me, you look at all the other games versus Burns, we’d go at it. But he just had confidence that last game, it was a long night,” Bacot laughed and admitted. “It was a long night for me ain’t gon’ lie. Shoutout to DJ, he’s a killer for sure.”
NC State’s unexpected NCAA Tournament run will be remembered for years to come in the Tar Heel State. And if they can build on their momentum in the next few years, maybe the Wolfpack can continue putting themselves between one of the biggest rivalries in college hoops.
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