On one level, the difference between Duke and North Carolina comes down to hue, hue, hue. The former identifies its shade in regal terms, Royal Blue, and the latter modestly calls its lighter dye Carolina Blue. Rivals they certainly are, most famously in the area of men's basketball. But by virtue of their proximity, frequency of competition and consistency of excellence, they are perceived by outsiders as Tobacco Road twins. They enter the NCAA Tournament this week in their usual state of supremacy, entries 1 and 1A from the Atlantic Coast Conference, serious contenders for the national championship that both consider their birthright.
Dynasties are extinct in college basketball.
The talent is too widespread in the sport and the tournament too taxing for one school to dominate year after year. But Duke and Carolina can claim the next best thing, a bi-nasty, with at least one of the universities flexing its muscle each year. Both programs qualified for the Final Four in the same year only once, in 1991, but it's an equally rare occurrence when neither makes it at all. Consider that the lone instance in which both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels failed to advance to the semifinals in the last 13 years was in 1996. Most likely, there will not be a repeat of such unacceptable behavior.