The storied basketball rivalry between UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State is lopsided to say the least. The Tar Heels pushed their all-time recor against the Wolfpack to 134-74 last night with a 95-71 thrashing in Raleigh.
The loss put the Tar Heels,who were picked to finish at the bottom of the ACC, AT 9-4 in the conference and just a half-game back of the Wolfpack. NC State falls to 10-4 in the conference with UNC holding any tie-breaker. The loss also puts the Pack 60 games behind Carolina in the all-time series.
In most areas of the United States a school that holds two (1974 and '83) NCAA basketball championships would be the pride of that area. However, there are two other schools in this area, Duke and Carolina, that hold 3 and 4 national championships respectively. We should feel blessed, and I do, to live in an area and go to a school where 2 national titles isn't enough. In fact if it were not for the scandal ridden eras of the 1950's and late 1980's, then State would be right up there with the other two rival schools.
Why don't we all just face the fact that we are the little brother of Carolina and Duke when it comes to basketball? I mean we do own Wake Forest in basketball, right? I'm not willing to settle for waving our 2 national championship banners in the faces of the Demon Deacons. I want to say "We've caught Duke at 3 and headed for the Heels' 4!" But, it seems that the rest of 'Wolfpack Nation' doesn't agree.
We got beat by Carolina last night. Like Caulton Tudor of the N&O said, "North Carolina wanted it more than N.C. State, needed it more and took it without hesitation --with surprisingly little resistance from the Wolfpack." It was down right embarrassing. But, there was no one left there to feel the pain. I had to watch from home as the fans filed out with 6 minutes left in the game. What happened to the faithful who filled the Dean Dome when we reeled off 4 in a row against tea Tar Heels under Matt Doherty.
It's not the Carolina fans that deserve the title of the "Wine and Cheese" crowd. It's the Wolfpack fans that do. I dread to even turn on any local sports talk radio stations on my way home today, because I know the bandwagon will be unloading like the Titanic.
Carolina has lost to Duke 16 out of the last 19 times. Have they given up? No. All they have done is win a national championship. Have their fans given up (yes, under Matt Doherty they did)? No. They still sell out every home game following a Duke loss. However, I have a feeling that scalper tickets will be easy to come by on Saturday as the Pack plays host to Boston College on Senior Day.
They call it a season for a reason. It's not about 2 or 3 games within that season. It's about what happens at the end of the season. Just ask Chuck Amato, the Wolfpack football team had their backs against the wall and made something out of nothing. The basketball team still as the opportunity to make something out of something.
By winning their 2 remaining games, vs. #11 Boston College and @ Wake Forest, the Pack will head into the ACC Tournament inside the top-15 and a first round bye. With a strong showing in, or maybe even winning, the conference tournament they will lock down a seed of no worse than 4 in the NCAA Tournament.
And then who knows? Anything can happen in the NCAA tournament, just as it did in 1983 when Jim Valvano led the Wolfpack to the basketball promise land. If that scenario were to repeat itself no one would think about losing twice to Carolina until next season. All you got to do is have faith and cheer. No matter what. If the great 'Wolfpack Nation' would start doing that then we would win as much as we talk about winning, in both basketball and football.
Sources:
gopack.com
tarheelblue.com
wakeforestsports.com
goduke.com
newsandobserver.com
picture from: http://gopack.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/022206aaa.html
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