Players, eras and dynasties come and go in sports. Rivalries—at least this one—tend to stick around.
Things will look a little different when Duke and North Carolina meet Saturday for the first time since the Tar Heels prevailed in last season's Final Four. When they do, head coaches Jon Scheyer and Hubert Davis will go head-to-head at last, injecting new life into a rivalry that predates the duo's predecessors.
Scheyer against Davis is far from the only interesting individual matchup on the docket. Graduate students Ryan Young and Pete Nance, former Northwestern teammates now playing on opposite sides of the U.S. 15-501, will put their knowledge of each other to the test Saturday when they finally meet as foes.
There is, as usual, a great deal of excitement built up on both campuses for the biannual showdown, and it extends beyond the confines of the court. Both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels enter the contest unranked, but the game is still a golden opportunity for all parties involved: What better game to use as a turning point than this one?
It turns out that Scheyer, who had his own time in the limelight as a star of the Tobacco Road rivalry, knows a thing or two about turning points in the rivalry. The Chronicle asked those who remember, from former Blue Devils to college basketball analysts, to recount those days of old and to forecast how Scheyer and Davis fit into this next chapter.
Of course, there is plenty more to know before tipoff rolls around Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Catch up on all of our preview content at the Blue Zone and read up on our beat writers' score predictions, MVP picks and more.
Before you go, help The Chronicle take down the Daily Tar Heel in our annual fundraiser Rivalry Challenge, celebrating both student journalism and the greatest rivalry in college sports. Plus, make sure to follow @dukebasketball on Twitter for live coverage of Saturday's festivities from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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