Tobacco Road is a term used in college sports, mainly basketball, for the four rival universities of North Carolina that play in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The term refers to the area's history as a major tobacco producer. The Tobacco Road teams represent the following universities:
The Carolina–Duke rivalry refers to the sports rivalry between the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke University Blue Devils, particularly in the sport of basketball. It is considered one of the most intense rivalries in all of US sports: a poll conducted by ESPN in 2000 ranked the basketball rivalry as the third greatest North American sports rivalry, and Sports Illustrated on Campus named it the #1 "Hottest Rivalry" in college basketball and the #2 rivalry overall in its November 18, 2003 issue. The intensity of the rivalry is augmented for many reasons. One reason is the proximity of the two universities—they are located only ten miles apart along U.S. Highway 15–501 or eight miles apart in straight-line distance. In addition, Duke is a private university whereas Carolina is a public school; the vastly different funding structures and cultures between the two further contribute to the intensity of the rivalry. One of the biggest reasons for this rivalry lies in the success of their respective basketball programs; almost every year, at least one of the schools is a contender to win the national championship.
The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. Maryland was a founding member of the Southern Conference in 1921, a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1952, and a member of the Big Ten Conference since 2014.
The Duke Blue Devils football team represents Duke University in the sport of American football. The Blue Devils compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The program has 17 conference championships, 53 All-Americans, 10 ACC Players of the Year, and have had three Pro Football Hall of Famers come through the program. The team is coached by Manny Diaz and play their home games at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the Tar Heel State. The campus at Chapel Hill is referred to as the University of North Carolina for the purposes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was chartered in 1789, and in 1795 it became the first state-supported university in the United States. Since the school fostered the oldest collegiate team in the Carolinas, the school took on the nickname Carolina, especially in athletics. The Tar Heels are also referred to as UNC or The Heels.
The Battle for the Old Mountain Jug was the name given to the Appalachian State–Western Carolina football rivalry, an American college football rivalry game that became dormant when Appalachian State left the Southern Conference and moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2014.
The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the sport of American football or Gridiron Football. The Tar Heels play in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The Victory Bell is the traveling trophy given to the winner of the annual football game between the Duke University Blue Devils and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The game was worth two points in the now-defunct, yearlong Carlyle Cup between the two schools.
The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represents Duke University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The team is fourth all-time in wins of any NCAA men's basketball program, and is currently coached by Jon Scheyer.
The North Carolina Tar Heels Men's basketball program is the college basketball team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have won six National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, in addition to a Helms Athletic Foundation retroactive title (1924), and participated in a record twenty-one Final Fours. It is the only school to have reached at least one Final Four for nine straight decades and at least two Final Fours for six straight decades, all while averaging more wins per season played (20.7) than any other program in college basketball. In 2012, ESPN ranked North Carolina No. 1 on its list of the 50 most successful programs of the past fifty years.
The South Carolina Gamecocks football program represents the University of South Carolina. The Gamecocks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. The team's head coach is Shane Beamer. They play their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium.
The Maryland–Virginia football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Maryland Terrapins and Virginia Cavaliers. The Terrapins and Cavaliers first met in 1919 and the series was played annually from 1957 through 2013, before Maryland left the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for the Big Ten Conference in 2014.
The Duke–Maryland basketball rivalry is a dormant college basketball rivalry between the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team of Duke University and Maryland Terrapins men's basketball team of the University of Maryland. The basketball series has been called one of the most intense intercollegiate rivalries of modern times by some. A Harris Interactive poll of Marylanders ranked it the third best in the state behind the Commanders–Cowboys and Ravens–Commanders rivalries in 2003. In 2014, Maryland left the ACC for the Big Ten and regular season games between Maryland and Duke are no longer scheduled regularly.
The 1983–84 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented University of North Carolina in the 1983–84 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 28–3 overall, won the ACC regular season title with a 14–0 record and made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the 1984 NCAA tournament. They were coached by Dean Smith in his twenty-third season as head coach of the Tar Heels. They played their home games at the Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The North Carolina Tar Heels men's lacrosse team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's lacrosse. North Carolina currently competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and plays its home games at Fetzer Field and Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Their main rivalry series is with fellow ACC member Duke.
The Duke Blue Devils men's lacrosse team represents Duke University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's lacrosse. Duke currently competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and plays its home games at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The principal rivalry of Duke is their all-sports nemesis North Carolina.
The North Carolina A&T–North Carolina Central rivalry is an ongoing series of athletic competitions between North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and North Carolina Central University, both of which are located in North Carolina.
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football program is a college football team that represents the University of Louisiana at Lafayette at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. Since 1971, the team has played its home games at Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana. Michael Desormeaux has served as Louisiana's head coach since 2021.
The 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 3, 2015 and ended on December 12, 2015. The postseason concluded on January 11, 2016 with Alabama defeating Clemson in the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship. This was the second season of the College Football Playoff (CFP) championship system.
The Duke–North Carolina lacrosse rivalry is an intercollegiate lacrosse rivalry between the Duke Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels. Located just 9.8 miles apart on Tobacco Road, the two programs are classic rivals in the Atlantic Coast Conference, headlined by their basketball and football rivalries, but also extending to lacrosse - even club lacrosse. The rivalry has carried national importance itself since the 1990s, leading to numerous thrilling contests between the two in the ACC and NCAA postseason tournaments. Duke leads the ACC series 9–4 and has compiled a perfect 4–0 mark against the heels in NCAA tournament play. Current Heels coach Joe Breschi summed up the rivalry as "when you’re 12 miles away from a school that you don’t like and doesn’t like you, it makes it more intense. There’s so much more meaning there than any other game. That’s what makes winning that much more sweet." In 2019, his counterpart Duke head coach John Danowski described the annual challenge of facing UNC: "They're really good. They're very well-coached, they get the best players in the country year after year, they have the top recruiting classes, and they hate Duke." As a testament to the national success between the two schools, the Blue Devils have won three national titles, while the Tar Heels lay claim to five. As of the end of the 2023 season, North Carolina leads the series 43–37.
