When would UNC Basketball potentially meet Duke in the 2024 NCAA Tournament?

Two years ago, the UNC basketball program entered the NCAA Tournament as an eighth seed. They had a historic run behind Caleb Love, Brady Manek, and Armando Bacot. The Tar Heels met their archrivals, Duke, in the NCAA tournament for the first time. As if a tournament game isn't high stakes enough, the matchup was to determine a finalist.

Ultimately, North Carolina fell to Kansas in the National Championship game, but the win over Duke in the Final Four will forever be one of the most iconic wins in program history. There is only one way this matchup could be topped, and it could happen in 2024.

North Carolina handled Wagner and Michigan State this past weekend, while Duke cruised by Vermont and James Madison University. Now that North Carolina and Duke have survived the first weekend and are entering the Sweet 16, if each program wins three more games apiece, the biggest rivals in the game will meet for the National Championship.

Obviously, neither team will have a cakewalk to make it to that final Monday night, but the sheer thought that a UNC/Duke title game is a possibility is something not many can fathom.

North Carolina took both regular season meetings with Duke and claimed the ACC regular season championship with a win in Durham on March 9th. If North Carolina and Duke were to square off for a National Championship, none of this would matter.

A lot still has to happen for this to come to fruition. North Carolina will have to go through Alabama, potentially Arizona, and defending champions UConn before reaching the title game.

Duke will still have to play No. 1 seed Houston to reach the Elite Eight, and things will only get more difficult for the Blue Devils each round they advance. However, an epic UNC basketball/Duke National Championship matchup could actually happen in 2024.