University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rivalry Reborn
December 4, 2009 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Dec. 4, 2009
By Adam Lucas
While the Carolina-Duke rivalry has been earning HBO specials, best-selling books and the attention of the national sports public, the Carolina-Kentucky rivalry has largely been forgotten.
That should change tomorrow.
Thanks to a variety of factors, the Tar Heels and Wildcats have the best inter-conference rivalry in college basketball. They've experienced similar levels of success, but the meetings have been infrequent enough to retain a sense of importance. Fans of both programs would probably tell you that other than the prolific winning, the two competitors are very different. Kentucky thrives as the lead dog in a hoops-mad state, while Carolina shares Tobacco Road with three other rivals. The Wildcats have had a succession of coaches since Adolph Rupp, while Carolina's portion of the rivalry is built largely around Dean Smith.
In fact, it was Rupp who "helpfully" called a young Dean Smith to schedule a lengthy series when Smith took the job in Chapel Hill, only to be stunned when Smith's Tar Heels pulled out a 68-66 win in Lexington in 1962. That began a pattern of frustration for Wildcat coaches. Rick Pitino ended the series between the two teams after Carolina's 84-81 win in 1990; the 1995 Tar Heels spoiled Pitino's Final Four celebration with a regional final win in Birmingham.
Even when the Wildcats claimed victory, what made the rivalry important on a national scale is the fact that the games usually meant something. Between 1964 and 1995, the two teams met 14 times. In 13 of those games, both were ranked in the national top-25. Two of those meetings were regional finals, with the Final Four on the line.
"For several years CBS had Carolina-Kentucky as their lead game into college basketball," Roy Williams said Friday afternoon before taking his team to Lexington. "People do talk about Kentucky and North Carolina in any conversation about college basketball. If they don't talk about them at the start, it doesn't take long to get there. They're two great programs with multiple national championships, multiple national players of the year, multiple all-americans. It's two great programs with history and tradition. When you have that 40, 50 and 60 years of success it's pretty impressive."
Which makes it all the more unbelievable that the two programs haven't met as ranked teams since 2004, and the rivalry has been one of streaks throughout this decade. It began in 2000 with a sound 93-76 UK win, the first of four straight Wildcat wins. Then, just as Tar Heel fans were starting to tire of the series, Williams engineered the current streak of five straight UNC victories.
For three years in a row, Carolina has entered the game as a top-ten team against an unranked Kentucky squad. On the last Tar Heel trip to Rupp Arena--which can be one of the most formidable road venues in college basketball when the Wildcat fans are suitably irritated--there was a general sense of doom in Lexington. Carolina stretched the lead to 20 midway through the second half and Wildcat fans booed their team late in the game.
That won't happen tomorrow, as John Calipari is still in his honeymoon stage. At Kentucky, just like at Carolina, that phase lasts until roughly the first defeat. How big is this game for Calipari? One Kentucky columnist called the game the reason "why Kentucky hired Calipari." With Carolina ranked 10th and undefeated Kentucky 5th, this is a matchup of two of the nation's best. And with both teams populated by young talent, it's also a matchup of two teams that should be even better in March.
So although some will try to make it a John Wall vs. Carolina showdown, it should be more than that. There have been times this decade when the game has truly been a showcase for just one player--Tayshaun Prince in 2001, Reyshawn Terry in 2005--but this time the game should outweigh the individuals.
This time, as it should be, it's about two of the nation's best programs.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of five books on Carolina basketball, including the just-released book on the 2009 national title, One Fantastic Ride. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
