Final Four battle for the ages
Duke and North Carolina matchup in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the schools' histories.
On Saturday, Duke and North Carolina will battle in a Final Four for the first time ever. Let that sink in for a moment.
The greatest rivalry in sports is about to be renewed on the biggest stage in college sports — the NCAA Final Four. For the very first time.
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels obviously meet twice in the regular season every single year and there have been 23 battles in ACC Tournament action. Those games clearly ramp up tension and in the grand scheme of things most of those games are more about bragging rights for fans.
This one is much, much more.
You want to talk about anxiety? Look into the eyes and at the face of a diehard Duke or North Carolina fan at any point this week and behind that smile and excitement for the Final Four is an emotional meltdown waiting to happen.
Duke and North Carolina — for a chance to play in the national title game. That’s enough right there to emit butterflies. Add to the fact it’s Mike Krzyzewski’s final season as head coach, and the restlessness leading up to and through the game will be at a level unmatched for either fan base.
After all, this is Duke and North Carolina playing for a chance at the biggest prize in college hoops.
That is where the focus should be, at least if there’s a desire to maintain some semblance of sanity.
For those directly involved with the game — i.e., the players and coaches — they have to block out the noise and approach this game as if it’s any other random team they are facing off against. Probably easier said than done, but that mentality will be critical for success.
It’s not about the rivalry for the players — it can’t be. At least it shouldn’t be.
“I haven’t looked at it as us against Carolina,” Krzyzewski said. “I’ve looked at it as us — we’re playing in the Final Four.
“You can’t go into the Final Four just thinking rivalry, payback or any of those things. You’ve got to go in — we want to win a championship. This is who we are now, this is whomever we would play. And that we’ve got to beat them, and then we’ve gotta beat someone else. And if you go in with those other two things, there’s a good chance you’re not going to win. But if you did, you probably won’t win on Monday.
“It’s gotta be looked at as you’re playing for — we’ve got four teams playing for a national championship — and that’s how I’m looking at it.”
For the coaching staff, that approach is likely much easier to adopt than it is for some players, who are so emotionally invested in this rivalry already.
Duke won in Chapel Hill quite decisively. It was as lopsided of a game as there’s been in some time in this matchup — and the final score doesn’t really do that fact justice. Then the Blue Devils lost in Durham for Krzyzewski’s final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was devastating for many.
There was a frenzy surrounding that matchup, with talk centering more on Krzyzewski’s final home game. The pressure certainly existed for the players to come through, and they undoubtedly were impacted by the circus that existed in the lead up to the game.
To what extent did it impact their play? It’s hard to tell. But it certainly played a role. Couple that with a North Carolina team that was light years better than it was in early February and it was a recipe for disaster.
The question now is how do the players approach this as a Final Four game, and not a chance at redemption. Playing in a Final Four alone brings a new level of pressure. Add to the mix it’s against your arch-rival and things get a lot more complicated.
It was clear that Duke players — at least Paolo Banchero — wanted a third chance at UNC in the ACC Tournament. The freshman’s sentiments probably represented those of most of his teammates, whether they admit it or not.
So, overcoming that will no doubt be a challenge.
Considering both teams are playing at an extraordinarily high level right now, there’s no room for either to be worried about other aspects outside of simply getting to the national title game.
That’s Krzyzewski’s focus at least. When asked how much he draws from the first two meetings, he turned the attention to what each team is doing now, and is much more concerned about what North Carolina is capable of today opposed to what they were in February or early March.
“I really think each of us was a different team,” he said. “We were different when we played them there, and so were they. And then when we played them here, they had developed into an outstanding team and we weren’t at that time. So to me, the thing is I think we’re going to have two really good teams play against one another, whereas the last two games we were better than them at that point and they were better than us at the other point. Now we’ll see what happens.
“I don’t draw anything that much from those games. I draw more from — I’ve been watching them not against us but against other teams because they’re really playing well.”
The team that can put all the rivalry components aside, will likely be the one that’s locked in much more acutely to the task at hand.
For the fans, though. That’s an entirely different conversation. From a fans perspective, this is the game that will give bragging rights to the winning fan base that will be unmatched by any other — at least for the foreseeable future.
Duke probably has even more on the line — if North Carolina wins the game, they are not only beating Duke to advance to the national title game, they are sending Coach K into retirement with a loss to his arch-nemesis.
It’s quite possibly the worst case scenario for Duke fans.
Will it bother Mike Krzyzewski if his career comes to a close with a loss to North Carolina? Sure, he’s human. Of course it would hold an extra level of impact. What he would likely be most disappointed in, though, is not winning for the players.
If Duke wins, he ends his career having beaten UNC in the Final Four and in his final matchup with the Tar Heels. More importantly, a win sends him to the national championship game with an opportunity to win the sixth in his hall of fame career.
In the end, for many fans, a win in this game would ease the pain if either lost in the championship.
For the players and coaches, there’s no consolation in a victory in this matchup without a national title.
“I know there’s going to be TV, radio, a Duke guy, a Carolina guy and they’re gonna be talking stupid stuff to one another,” Krzyzewski said. “That means nothing. But that’s what sport, for fans, is about. It’s not for coaches and it’s not for players. Let’s just stick to what we’re doing.”