Duke and North Carolina Clash at Cameron: The Rivalry That Keeps On Giving

What looked like another David vs. Goliath matchup has quickly turned into a clash of the titans remake. NCAA's elite, North Carolina (17-5, 7-1) and Duke (21-2, 8-1) match up in what is not only a pivotal ACC game, but college basketball's best rivalry.

If you would ask anyone two months ago, looking ahead to this game was a frightful thought for Carolina fans. The Tar Heels had just come off of a heartbreaking loss to Texas and sat with a very average 7-4 record. With thoughts looming from an embarrassing 82-50 loss at Cameron Indoor last year, the Duke-Carolina pendulum was hard left in favor of Duke.

Just seven short weeks later, and it is a completely different story. North Carolina is one of the hottest teams in the nation, having won 13 of their last 15 games. The Tar Heels have won their last three games by an average of 24 points per game.

The outstanding play of freshmen Kendall Marshall and Harrison Barnes have propelled the Tar Heels back onto the national scene. This, added with the departure of Larry Drew, have seemed to add a better flow to the Tar Heels offense. Marshall dished out 16 assists in the Tar Heels stomping of Florida St. 89-69 on Sunday, while Barnes is averaging 22.7 points per game his last three games.

Duke, on the other hand, is also on a tear. Despite their meltdown at St. Johns, Duke has been playing as good as anyone in the nation. Duke is No. 5 in the country and has bounced back from their loss in The Garden by posting impressive victories over Maryland and North Carolina State.

Duke is led in scoring by Nolan Smith, who is averaging 21 points per game. Fellow senior Kyle Singler is second, contributing 18 points per game.

Looking at this game, it is clear that Duke has the advantage on paper. Since their first conference loss at Florida State, Duke has won every ACC game by double digits. North Carolina has taken the approach of steady progression since their loss at Georgia Tech. Before their recent three game tear, the Tar Heels were only winning their ACC games by an average of 5.5 points per game.

We knew all along that Duke was a real contender. The recent success of North Carolina has added the spark needed to heat up this rivalry again. Heading into Wednesday, there is definitely one thing that is certain: this game is no longer the foregone conclusion most thought it was two months ago.