Tradition still matters in North Carolina, where tobacco remains the No. 1 cash crop and folks are quick to be judged by their college basketball affiliations. Conference realignment and the expanded ACC that resulted from it forever altered how Tobacco Road rivalries play out. (And truthfully, some down here still can’t wrap their minds around the ACC tournament being held in Brooklyn this season.) But what hasn’t changed is how keeping pace with what the next program is doing still motivates the Big Four.
North Carolina’s appearance in the national title game after Duke won it in 2015 solidified those programs are back after an uncharacteristic Final Four drought.