UNC Basketball: Tar Heels, Blue Devils draw season’s biggest audience
When the UNC basketball team took on the Duke Blue Devils in Durham over the weekend, it drew the largest television audience of the season.
When the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils meet on the basketball court, it’s always one of the most talked-about and highly-publicized events of the season.
That’s particularly the case when the game really means something. Of course, if you ask anyone from either fan base, they’d tell you that’s every time. And there is some truth to that given the individual success of both schools on top of the legendary battles they’ve shared with one another.
But when a regular-season title or conference tournament is on the line — or the overly hyped final home game of a head coach — that’s when the stakes are really high and when fans and casual spectators alike come together to watch what’s almost certain to be a memorable occasion.
Related Story. G.G. Jackson decision not coming any time soon. light
That’s exactly what happened on Saturday night when the Tar Heels took the short trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the teams’ second meeting of the season. Following an embarrassing 20-point home loss to the Duke in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels ruined Mike Krzyzewski’s last game at the house that he built in front of more than 100 former Blue Devils and a raucous crowd ready to celebrate one of the biggest games in the program’s history.
And make no mistake; it was one of the biggest games in program history despite what many Duke fans have said following the surprising 13-point loss to their arch-rival.
Evidencing the true importance of the game are the television ratings that it brought it, with more than 3.98 million viewers making it the most-watched regular-season college basketball game in three years. Its viewership peaked out at 4.76 million between 8:15-8:30 p.m. EST. It even outdrew that night’s NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in which LeBron James scored a season-high 56 points.
Fans of teams not named North Carolina or Duke might get sick of hearing about how it’s the “greatest rivalry in all of college sports,” but the numbers prove that it’s just that.
Next. Skyy Clark to UNC? Not so fast!. dark
Follow us @KeepingItHeel on Twitter and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of UNC basketball news, views, and recruiting predictions.