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ESPN College GameDay headed to Chapel Hill for Duke-North Carolina

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•01/27/24

ESPN has announced the next live location for its ever-popular College GameDay show and it should come as little surprise. The crew is headed to Chapel Hill, N.C., to watch Duke take on North Carolina.

Traditionally one of the biggest basketball matchups of the year, this year’s contest figures to be no different.

Both programs are on an absolute tear right now, with North Carolina leading the ACC with an 8-0 conference record and Duke not far behind at 5-2. The Tar Heels have won nine straight games since a loss to a ranked Kentucky squad, while Duke has won nine of its last 10 games, stumbling only once against Pittsburgh.

The ESPN College GameDay crew will be live on location for only the second time this season, having gone to Fayetteville, Ark., for an Arkansas-Kentucky game as the first matchup highlighted this season.

North Carolina has gotten where it is so far this season with a simple formula.

“At the end of the day, you need your dudes to step up,” coach Hubert Davis said. “I mean, you just need your big-time players to make big-time plays. It’s just as simple as that. So, for us to win whoever we play, you know, we need Cormac (Ryan) and Armando (Bacot), and we need RJ (Davis), we need Harrison (Ingram). We need those guys to play well.”

They have all done just that. All four are averaging double figures scoring, with Davis leading the way at 21.0 points per game. Bacot is averaging a double-double with 14.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Ingram isn’t far behind at 12.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

They’ll go up against a Duke squad that hasn’t quite reached its potential in 2023-24.

The Blue Devils are led by big man Kyle Filipowski, who is currently averaging 18.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Duke has five players currently averaging double-figure scoring.

If not for a trio of players missing for the Pittsburgh game, Duke may well be on a 10-game winning streak currently. The team dropped that contest 80-76, missing Jeremy Roach, Mark Mitchell and Christian Reeves in the contest.

In any case, next Saturday’s contest between Duke and North Carolina will be the latest chapter in a storied rivalry. And ESPN’s College GameDay will be in the house to take it in.