History will be made Saturday night in Durham, sort of.
It isn’t as if North Carolina and Duke have never met on the basketball court when neither team was ranked, but it hasn’t happened in 61 years. The last time Duke and UNC faced each other on the hardwood with neither team ranked was Feb. 27, 1960.
They square off this weekend at Cameron Indoor Stadium with UNC owning an 11-6 overall mark, 6-4 in the ACC, and Duke standing at 7-6 and 5-4. The Blue Devils have not been ranked in the last three polls and the Tar Heels haven’t been ranked since the fifth week of the season.
In 1960, UNC was ranked in the first seven polls, falling out the week it met Duke on Feb. 27. The Devils opened the season ranked No. 18, but never got back into the polls.
On Feb. 13, UNC routed the Blue Devils, 84-57, in Chapel Hill, and two weeks later, the Tar Heels won, 75-50, in the noteworthy meeting at Duke Indoor Stadium. Five days later, Duke paid back the Tar Heels with a 71-69 win in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Duke represented the ACC in the NCAA Tournament and reached the Elite Eight before losing to New York University.
UNC finished 12-2 (18-6 overall) and outright won the ACC regular season title, but Duke, which finished 17-11, won the ACC Tournament and the league’s only bid to the NCAA Tournament.
So, just how long ago is 61 years? We decided to look back at what was going on in the nation and sports world at the time. Consider:
*The number one song in the nation that week was “The Theme From a Summer Place” by Percy Faith.
*Ben-Hur was the top movie.
*Gunsmoke was the top television show
*UNC Coach Roy Williams was nine years and 211 days old the day of the Feb. 27, 1960 game.
*Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski was 13 years and 14 days old that day.
*Hawaii became a state 190 days earlier and Alaska had become a state one year and 55 days earlier.
*Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the final year of his presidency.
*The first ever televised presidential debate (John F. Kennedy-Richard Nixon) was 211 days after the game.
*Game day was one year and 160 days before Dean Smith was hired by UNC. Smith, by the way, turned 29 the day after the game.
*45 months later, President Kennedy was assassinated.
*A gallon of gas was 31 cents, adjusted to $1.98 today.
*A half-gallon of milk was $1.
*The Twist was just getting started as the new dance craze.
*The Chevrolet Corvair was the Motor Trend 1960 Car of the Year.
*The average price of a new car was $2,752.
*The median home value was $11,900.
*The average income was $5,600.
*There were 52 million TV sets in American homes.
*Gold was $35.25 per ounce
*1960 was Ted Williams’ last season in the big leagues.
*It was one year before Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth’s home run record.
*Minnesota won the 1960 national championship in college football.
*Joe Bellino of Navy won the Heisman Trophy.
*Duke won the 1960 ACC football championship.
*The first Super Bowl wouldn't be played for nearly seven more years.
*United States population was 180.7 million.
*North Carolina population was 4,556,155.
*Chapel Hill population was 12,573.
*North Carolina’s United States senators were B. Everett Jordan and Sam Ervin.
*Invented in 1960: Bubble wrap; liquid paper; zip codes; lava lamp; and the 9-1-1 universal emergency number.
*Deana King contributed to this report.
