Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Tar Heels Fan's Guide To Hating Your ACC Brethren

Everyone has their own hatred for other teams for whatever reason.  Even among fans of the same team, there are some teams you may hate more than I.  Maybe because of age (as a 40 yr old, I remember the rabid UNC-State rivalry), of proximity (I now live in Kentucky so the UNC-Kentucky games have a bit more smack talk involved) or just general taste in opponents.

But, as a Tar Heel fan, here is the order of the ACC teams in terms of hoops hate.

14-VIRGINIA TECH:  Honestly, does any UNC fan hate the Hokies yet?  To Heels hoops fans, we tend to forget the Hokies are even in the conference (UNC leads series 65-13).

13-BOSTON COLLEGE:  The Eagles used to be a lot higher on this list.  When they first came into the league, they (more than Va Tech or Miami) brought the bruising Big East style with them.  Jared Dudley and crew came into the league wanting to push around the status quo of UNC and Duke.  Since those mid-2000s, the Eagles haven't really been much to deal with and their far away location doesn't lend itself to much fan interaction (UNC leads series 12-5).  

12-NOTRE DAME:  The most hateful thing I can say about the Irish right now is that they didn't try harder to keep Matt Doherty back in the early 2000s (UNC leads series 18-5).

11-MIAMI:  The Hurricanes have been annoying, winning four straight against the Heels.  Not only is the atmosphere down in Coral Gables tough on UNC, they seem to play Carolina well no matter where the game is played (UNC leads series 19-6)

10-LOUISVILLE:  They are the new guy, so I haven't developed too much of a hatred for them yet.  Yet.  However, their two meetings in the Cards first ACC season have been epic and hopefully leads to a nice future to come (UNC leads series 10-4).

9-PITTSBURGH:  A new ACC team, but they've climbed up the ladder a bit.  They beat the Heels in the ACC tournament last year and during the season this year (UNC leads series 8-3).

8-CLEMSON:  Clemson is a longtime nemesis, but UNC has kind of owned them.  Clemson has never won in Chapel Hill (amazing stat).  There was the tense years during Rick Barnes tenure in Clemson which leaps them up the ladder (UNC leads series 129-20)

7-SYRACUSE:  It's easy to hate Jim Boeheim.  He's whiny and he has openly complained about the Orange's move from the Big East to the ACC, even dissing Greensboro as a host to the ACC Tournament.  They are also an excellent program who will battle UNC for conference crowns for a long time (UNC leads series 5-4).  

6-WAKE FOREST:  It is usually tough to "hate" Wake, but anyone who remembers the 1990s knows that it was quite a huge rivalry.  From Rodney Rodgers to Randolph Childress to Tim Duncan to Chris Paul (UNC leads series 157-66).  

5-GEORGIA TECH:  Tech has always been a thorn in Heels sides (UNC leads series 65-23).  

4-VIRGINIA:  On the surface, the Cavs-Heels rivalry doesn't seem that big.  But these are two old schools who are closer in proximity than you'd think that have played for a long, long time (UNC leads series 128-52).  

3-FLORIDA STATE:  For whatever reason, FSU scares me each season.  When they come up on the schedule, I get nervous.  Even the game last week was quite a nailbiter even though the Noles are a bit down this year.  They area always tough, yet athletic.  Well coached.  They also introduced the term "wine and cheese crowd" to the world (UNC leads series 45-12).  

2-NC STATE:  As a 40-yr old, I remember when UNC-State was a more rabid rivalry than the one with Duke.  State hates UNC.  Hates the Heels.  While we Heels fans hate State, the glamour of the Duke rivalry has made the one with the Pack less known.  But it is a big one (UNC leads series 151-77).  

1-DUKE:  Duh.  The biggest rivalry in college basketball and one of the best in all of sports (UNC leads series 133-106).


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