This season's first edition of the historic rivalry between No. 9 Duke and No. 21 North Carolina will take place at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
Both teams are usually positioned as top teams in the country. The last 143 times these two teams have played, at least one of them has been ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll. The last time neither team was ranked in neither the AP-poll or the coach's poll was February 25, 1955. But this season has seen each team face adversity on their way to earning top-seeds in the national tournament come March. Duke has been on the wrong end of three notable upsets (Boston College, NC State and St. John's), while the Tar Heels have shown that there are plenty of talent holes in their roster on both sides of the ball.
Regardless, this game will once again mark the unofficial start to the college basketball season. Football has ended, the NBA is in the dog days of its seasons, and the NHL is the NHL. Sports fans all from all over will appreciate the sporting spectacle that will happen tonight as it's yet another saga in one of the most famous rivalries in American sports.
Duke vs. UNC: Score, highlights updates
7:44 p.m. ET — UNC's starting five
Tar Heel starters vs. Duke: Berry, Williams, Johnson, Pinson & Maye#CarolinaSZN pic.twitter.com/ggX5suBGz1
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) February 9, 2018
7:41 p.m. ET — Zion Williamson's tomahawk jam will get you excited for this rivalry game next season
Zion Williamson sealed that win in the most Zion Williamson way possible. #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/pn4gw30o8d
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 9, 2018
7:36 p.m. ET — The Tar Heels are READY for the dunk contest that will immediately follow this game
Getting closer...#CarolinaSZN pic.twitter.com/VkAUL3SBYc
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) February 9, 2018
7:29 p.m. ET — Gosh when will Grayson Allen ever catch a break?
Duke's Grayson Allen emerges from the tunnel to a round of boos from UNC fans. Duke-UNC tips off in little over an hour. pic.twitter.com/mQgxyc3vVi
— Joedy McCreary (@JoedyAP) February 8, 2018
6:40 p.m. ET — In case it wasn't clear how popular this game is, Ryan Fagan has video of how long the line stil is to get into the Dean E. Smith Center.
And these UNC students are still waiting in line outside to get into the Duke game ... pic.twitter.com/K4fxaaYczZ
— Ryan Fagan (@ryanfagan) February 8, 2018