In the heart of North Carolina, where fields of tobacco are grown, lies one road known as U.S. Highway 15-501. There is something special about this road. This road connects two of the largest and most well respected universities in the country. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Duke at Durham. These two schools of the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) have been known as rivals since the 1920's. UNC and Duke are rivals in all aspects, but the rivalry between these two colleges has never been more perfectly portrayed than in the realm of college athletics.

There are plenty of famous rivalries in the world of athletics. Georgia and Auburn, Michigan and Ohio State, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. The list goes on, there are rivalries found in any level and any type of athletics. However, none of those rivalries even come close to comparing against the rivalry between the UNC Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils. The rivalry between these two schools is best known through the talented basketball teams.

Why is the rivalry between the basketball teams of UNC and Duke considered America's greatest rivalry? For one thing both colleges are very equal in terms of stats and winnings over each other.

Duke vs North Carolina

Last 90 Meetings

UNC: 44 wins

Duke: 46 wins

These are the current standings for Duke and UNC in the past 90 games. Look how close the two teams are in the number of times they've beaten each other. They're nearly tied. There are not many rivalries in America that are this close in the number of wins over each other. Besides the general wins lets take a look at the number of NCAA tournament titles each team holds.

UNC- 5 NCAA titles

Duke- 5 NCAA titles

The two teams are tied in the amount of times they've won the NCAA tournament. However there is one thing that truly sets this rivalry apart from others. The location of the schools.

Look how close the schools are, only 24 minutes. Not to mention it's a straight path, there are no turns or anything the colleges are on the same road. That's where this rivalry gained it's nick name, "The Battle For Tobacco Road." There is only one road that separates these two schools. The term battle is used in the nick name because thats what a match up between UNC and Duke is. There have been so many comebacks and upsets in the match ups between these two teams. Ask any fan and they will always tell you that a game between UNC and Duke is never over until the buzzard. There was game between Duke and UNC back in 1974 where Duke held an 8 point lead with 17 seconds left in the game.

Whether you're a Tar Heel or a Blue Devil the amount of excitement and fun that goes into each match up is mind blowing. This amount of excitement will continue for centuries. This rivalry between UNC and Duke will never die. It doesn't matter how many games each team wins during a season or how many national titles each team holds the rivalry will continue. "The Battle For Tobacco Road" will never end. "The Battle For Tobacco Road" is one American battle that will never have a winner.