When Rivals Collide for a Championship

I needed to kill some time on the train to Washington, D.C., for tonight’s ACC Championship game between NC State and North Carolina, the seventh time the two old rivals have met for the title. So I did this. If you enjoy reading "One Brick Back" and would like to help offset research expenses for stories such as this one, please make a small donation to the cause and help offset the travel expenses for covering a game important to so many people.

TIM PEELER
© 2024

NC State and North Carolina have met six previous times for the ACC Tournament championship. Tonight’s game at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., means the two old rivals have met just about once per decade in the 71 years since the league held its first tournament at Reynolds Coliseum in the winter of 1954.

The Tar Heels hold a 4-2 edge, but edge of those games had special attributes that are the foundation of what the original ACC was set up to be: a raucous family affair between similar schools in the heart of the South’s Mid-Atlantic region.

UPDATED: The championship record is now 4-3 in favor of UNC-CH, after State won the 2024 title game 84-76 in Washington, D.C.

March 7, 1959
Raleigh, North Carolina
Reynolds Coliseum
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2024/03/when-lights-went-out-at-reynolds.html

 

 

 

 

March 10, 1968
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte Coliseum
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2024/03/norm-sloan-and-nc-state-standout-dick.html

March 9, 1975
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro Coliseum
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2024/03/davids-last-hobbled-stand.html

 

March 8, 1987
Landover, Maryland
Capital Centre
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2024/03/a-perfect-title-run.html

 

March 9, 1997
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro Coliseum
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2024/03/160-minutes-of-steady-effort.html

March 11, 2007
Tampa, Florida
St. Pete Times Forum
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2024/03/a-surprise-run-in-sunshine-state.html

March 16, 2024
Washington, D.C.
Capital One Arena
https://news.ncsu.edu/2024/03/spring-breaking-for-a-championship/

https://www.on3.com/teams/nc-state-wolfpack/news/tim-peeler-nc-states-acc-title-was-won-for-the-teams-that-didnt/