Fans Celebrating on Franklin Street (Photo Credit: Anthony DeHart, WPTF/Curtis Media)
Anthony DeHart
UNC Chapel Hill won against rival Duke Saturday night, 93-84, at the Dean E. Smith Center. As soon as the buzzer confirmed the Tar Heels’ win, celebrations began on Franklin Street. Fireworks were set off, and the trees were filled with party-goers.
With the changing landscape of college athletics, legendary series like this could be threatened. Speaking with Jeff Hamlin on WPTF Afternoon News, News & Observer sportswriter Andrew Carter told WPTF News that recent shakeups in the ACC could threaten historic rivalries like UNC and Duke. Carter says there’s uncertainty about whether the famous rivals will remain in the same conference.
“The big four of Carolina, State, Duke, and Wake,” Carter said, “are they going to be in the same conference? … Is this thing going to kind of fall apart at some point?”
Carter says the changes are primarily driven by TV revenue for football.
“The folks running college athletics should figure out a way to separate football,” Carter said. “Make football its own thing. I know, it gets complicated with TV deals, and conferences have different contracts with different networks, yada, yada, yada. But you’re destroying everything else about college athletics for the sake of football TV.”
For fans like Carter, the stakes are high.
“It’s asinine, it’s nonsensical,” he said. “I think you’re gonna wind up killing the product.”
You can listen to the full conversation here.