College football and the NFL dominate the sports world from August to February. For many fans, the end of the Super Bowl is the signal that it's time to start paying close attention to college basketball in anticipation of the NCAA Tournament. The eight-week stretch from Super Bowl weekend to the Final Four is a sprint in college hoops, and everyone -- you, me, your boss and all of your relatives -- will be looking to get a piece of March Madness.
It's an annual part of February: the interest level from sports fans multiplies, and college basketball satiates that appetite with the best rivalry in the sport: Duke-North Carolina.
They always will play at least twice, once in Durham and once in Chapel Hill, usually within a month of each other. The first game comes just after the Super Bowl (as national interest is peaking), and that result almost always sets the stage for the ACC regular season title race, which concludes, usually, with the second Duke-UNC game in early March. It's a unique combination of history, timing and hatred that fuels the rivalry, with sitting Hall of Fame coaches on both sides and an annual quest for ACC supremacy in the mix.
Here are three things to know going into Duke-UNC, part I:
1. Duke is out of excuses
Luke Kennard and Matt Jones are the only regular contributors who haven't missed time because of injury or other tripping-related reasons. That has resulted in a fluid starting lineup and a clunky adjustment period once the team got close to full strength in January, and to some degree, some of Duke's inconsistencies have been excused. Mike Krzyzyewski was the last missing piece, finally returning to the sideline Saturday against Pittsburgh after a seven-game absence following back surgery. Duke associate head coach Jeff Capel filled in, guiding the Blue Devils to a 4-3 record.
Now the pieces are in place. Most of them have had enough time on the court together to forget that excuse. And Coach K is back. It's time to get it right in Durham.
To be fair, even though he has been sidelined, Coach K has not been absent. On his SiriusXM radio show, Krzyzewski said he has been "doing stuff every day" with the program. The role of running Duke basketball is similar to a CEO, so the off-court stuff isn't that surprising, but a team meeting at his house made headlines with a reported punishment -- locker room access and Duke gear privileges removed -- handed down after a home loss to NC State.
Krzyzewski was involved, but he wasn't there. Capel did a commendable job with the spot duty, guiding this hyper-talented team through injuries and Grayson Allen's tripping outrage, but he's not the winningest coach in college basketball history. With one game under his belt, Coach K begins the stretch that will define Duke's season. Beating North Carolina means everything to Duke, but beating North Carolina also means the Blue Devils are ready to take on the best teams in the league and make a run at fulfilling at least some of those preseason expectations.
2. UNC's push for a 1-seed starts now
Thursday night's result will be reflected in the first-ever midseason NCAA Tournament Bracketology preview when CBS releases the selection committee's top 16 seeds on Saturday. Right now, Jerry Palm has the Tar Heels as a No. 2 seed and the projected ACC champion. The strength of the ACC in the eyes of the committee could end up getting the league as many as 10 teams in the field of 68, but North Carolina, even as a conference champion, will need to have some quality wins in order to beat out the Big 12 champion (Kansas/Baylor) or the Pac-12 champion (Arizona/Oregon) for a top seed.
North Carolina is in the midst of one of the toughest stretches you'll see in college basketball. Later this month, the Tar Heels will play Virginia twice and Louisville in a nine-day span. The favorable matchups left on the schedule (NC State, Pittsburgh) are both on the road and then the season ends with Duke-UNC II (in Chapel Hill) and the ACC tournament in Brooklyn.
The ACC losses that North Carolina has been able to avoid during its march to the top of the standings could be right around the corner, but this could also be the stretch where the Tar Heels establish themselves as a national title contender.
3. Where the game will be decided
Rebounds and adjustments. Keep those two words in mind.
The Tar Heels are the best offensive rebounding team in the country, recovering the ball on 42.8 percent of its missed shots (per KenPom). Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks provide a size and experience advantage down low that results in the Tar Heels being able to power through stretches of poor shooting to maintain efficiency and offensive dominance. If Duke can prevent second-chance opportunities and excel on the boards then it will have a chance to dictate the flow of the game.
Getting control of the game flow is something that Duke and Mike Krzyzewski have been great at over the years, particularly in big games. The Blue Devils won last year's game in Chapel Hill with an in-game adjustment, letting Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram run isolation-style NBA offensive sets against a North Carolina team that was struggling to get the stops it needed to win. Duke has used lots of different lineups -- including a small-ball lineup with Jayson Tatum at power forward -- and how they decide to both match up and adjust in the game will go a long way in deciding the outcome.
