That is a pretty a good list of the top 10 Duke-Carolina games, but I’m not sure it is my list or yours. I’ve got several more that I think should be considered.

I grew up in Rocky Mount worshiping ACC basketball. I can’t tell you how many games I created in my back yard, where I was the announcer and all 10 players. I remember so vividly how the Duke-Carolina game was as big then as it is now.

Growing up, I listened to the great Ray Reeve on the radio calling ACC games on the Tobacco Radio Network, which was (although I didn’t know it way back then) owned by Capitol Broadcasting Co., the parent company of WRAL-TV and WRAL.com. Listening to him was like being at the game. He made me feel like I was there. I got to work one year with Mr. Reeve (1971-72) before he retired. It was one of my biggest thrills.

The first Carolina-Duke game that I have some memory of was in 1957, when I was 8 years old, and since that time I’ve either heard almost every one on radio or seen it on television or in person. It has become one of sports fiercest rivalries – and most bitter.

When anyone asks what are the biggest rivalries in any sport, Duke-Carolina basketball is near the top of every list.

So how about these games that didn’t make our sports staff’s Top 10? I think any of them could be included.

Feb. 9, 1957

Carolina was in the midst of its 32-0 national championship season, but Duke tested them in Chapel Hill. This was first game done by what was called Broadvision. The game was televised on WUNC-TV with no sound. So people listened to the game on radio and watched it on television. That’s what my family did in our small den in Rocky Mount. This was a first.

Carolina led by eight points, but Duke rallied to tie it up at 73-73 on a basket by Bobby Joe Harris. The person running the hand-operated scoreboard near the UNC bench didn’t change the score, however, so what Harris saw was 73-71 UNC. Thinking Duke was behind, he fouled Carolina’s Tommy Kearns with just seconds remaining. Kearns nailed the free throws and Carolina won it 75-73.

A year later, Duke beat Carolina in Durham 59-46. Harris called a time out with just two seconds left to let the Tar Heels think about it. He wanted them to stew after what had happened the year before.

March 4, 1960

Carolina had pounded Duke three times during the regular season. The closest margin was 18 points. This was a powerhouse UNC team under legendary coach Frank McGuire.

But in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, the Blue Devils jumped to a big lead and, behind Carroll Youngkin’s 30 points, managed to hold off and stun the Tar Heels 71-69. Duke went on to pull another upset over Billy Packer, Len Chappell and Wake Forest to win the ACC title. It was the first of four titles for Duke’s first-year head coach Vic Bubas.

Feb. 4, 1961

Duke entered the game at 15-1. Its only loss was to Carolina in the Dixie Classic. The Tar Heels were 14-2. This game marked the intensity of what this rivalry was and would become.

Duke would win the game 81-77 behind 36 points from sophomore star Art Heyman, but this game would be remembered for the bench-clearing brawl in the closing seconds involving Heyman and Carolina’s Larry Brown, Donnie Walsh and many more. I happened to be at this game with my dad, who somehow had secured tickets through a friend of his. I was 12 years old and it’s one of those memories that will live in my mind forever.

Feb. 23, 1963

It’s All-America Art Heyman’s last game at what was then called Duke Indoor Stadium, and he torches Carolina for 40 points and 24 rebounds as Duke, which would make its first-ever Final Four appearance that year, won it 106-93.

Jan. 9, 1965

Carolina had a four-game losing streak, and fourth-year coach Dean Smith was in trouble. Hard to believe now, but back then, many UNC fans wanted Smith fired.

Earlier that week, after a loss at Wake Forest, some unhappy Carolina fans hanged  Smith in effigy. He and his team saw it as they returned from Winston-Salem.

But on a Saturday night at Duke, Billy Cunningham scored 22 points and UNC upset the nationally ranked Blue Devils 65-62. It was Dean Smith’s first win over Duke.

March 4, 1966

I was at boarding school and in our nightly study hall, but there was no way I was going to miss this game in the ACC Tournament semifinals. I had a small transistor radio and hid that in my coat while running a cord up my sleeve to an ear piece. With my text book on my desk, my head in my hand, I looked deep in study, but was far from it.

Duke, ranked in the top three in the country, had beaten Carolina by 11 and 14 points during the regular season. That’s why Dean Smith decided to go right from the start with what became the famous – or, as some might think, the infamous – Four Corners offense.

The Tar Heels led 7-5 at the half and built a five-point lead in the second half before Duke was able to tie the score at 20. Blue Devils sophomore center Mike Lewis won it with a free throw with four seconds left. Duke won it 21-20.

Duke would go on to beat State in the championship and win Vic Bubas’ fourth and final ACC title. The Blue Devils would make it to the Final Four before losing in the semi-finals to Kentucky.

March 11, 1967

Carolina was beginning to wrestle ACC supremacy away from Duke. The Tar Heels had beaten the Blue Devils twice during the season and now had to do it a third time to win the ACC Title.

Behind junior Larry Miller’s 32 points, Carolina won the hard-fought game 82-73. The pendulum was beginning to swing back Carolina’s way. It was Dean Smith’s first ACC Championship and was the springboard to his first trip to the Final Four.

March 2, 1968

Carolina would win its second straight ACC title and advance to the finals of the NCAA tournament, but on this Saturday afternoon in Durham, they lost a three-overtime thriller to arch-rival Duke.

Little-used junior forward Fred Lind, who had only scored 29 points through the entire season, came off the bench and put in 16 and added nine rebounds in an 87-86 Duke win.

Jan. 22, 1972

Duke Indoor Stadium was being renamed Cameron Indoor Stadium on this day in honor of former athletic director Eddie Cameron. Carolina was ranked third in the country, while Duke was just 7-6.

The Devils hung with Carolina the entire game, though, and they won it 76-74 at the buzzer on a jump shot by unsung Robby West.

Jan. 19, 1974

Playing at home, a beleaguered Duke team under interim coach Neil McGeachy was tied with nationally ranked Carolina 71-71 with seconds to go. Duke had the ball, but Paul Fox’s cross-court pass was intercepted by UNC’S Bobby Jones, whose layup beat the buzzer and left a Cameron Indoor Stadium crowd stunned and exasperated.

Later that season, Duke would lose an eight-point lead with 17 seconds left and drop a 96-92 overtime decision in what is still one of the most talked-about games in the series’ long history. (You can find more on that game elsewhere on this site.)

Feb. 25, 1978

A young Duke team came to Carmichael Auditorium with a chance to tie the Tar Heels for the ACC regular-season championship. It was Phil Ford’s final home game, though, and he wasn’t about to let his Tar Heels lose. Playing with a badly sprained left wrist, Ford poured in 34 points as Carolina held off Duke 87-83.

The Blue Devils led by Jim Spanarkel, Mike Gminski and Gene Banks would go on to win the ACC Tournament and make it all the way to the NCAA championship game before losing to Kentucky.

Feb. 24, 1979

Carolina could win the outright regular season title with a win at Duke. The Blue Devils were coming off a horrible game at Clemson, but for some reason Dean Smith decided to start the game in the Four Corners.

Duke took a 2-0 lead, then Carolina held the ball for more than 12 minutes. Finally, Tar Heel center Rich Yonakor fired up a shot that missed everything. This was the beginning of the now famous “air-ball” chant that is so common today.

Duke led 7-0 at halftime and ended up winning it 47-40.

A week later, Carolina would beat Duke in the ACC Tournament final.

Jan. 19, 1985

Duke hadn’t won a game in Chapel Hill since 1966, but that streak would end as current Duke Associate Head Coach Johnny Dawkins poured in 34 points in a shocking 93-77 Blue Devil win.

March 13, 1988

Once more, Carolina and Duke would meet for an ACC championship. The Tar Heels were the regular-season champions but had lost to Duke twice during the regular season.

There’s an old saying that it’s hard to beat a good team three times. Dean Smith always thought this, and few thought that Duke, playing the late games as the third seed, would win this game. But after trailing most of the second half, the Blue Devils took control late and held on for a 65-61 win.

March 5, 1989

It was senior day in Chapel Hill, and the Heels led by as many as 10 in the second half until Duke drained four straight three-pointers, three of them by Quin Snyder, and squeezed by Carolina 88-86.

A week later, Carolina would beat Duke in a brutal game to win the ACC title.

March 5, 1994

Duke had already clinched the regular-season ACC title, but Carolina’s defending national champions – who had been talented but plagued by senior-freshman chemistry problems much of the season – put it together, ruining Grant Hill’s senior night and winning it 87-77.

Carolina won the ACC Tournament and beat Duke twice, but it was the Blue Devils who made to the Final Four before losing to Arkansas in the championship game.

Jan. 31, 1996

Neither team would cause a stir on the national scene this season, but this game at the Smith Center was as hard fought as any Duke-Carolina game. The Blue Devils led by as many as 12, but the Tar Heels fought back and took a 73-72 lead on a tip-in by Dante Calabria. Duke had a final shot at the buzzer, but Ricky Price missed it and UNC had a one-point win.

It was Duke’s sixth straight loss to the Tar Heels in a streak that would eventually reach seven.

March 5, 1997

Duke had already wrapped up the ACC regular-season crown, but on senior day at the Smith Center, the Devils had no answer for Antawn Jamison. The big sophomore rammed home 33 points to go with 11 rebounds as Carolina withstood Duke’s blistering three-point shooting for a 91-85 win.

Carolina would go on to win the ACC Tournament and make it to the Final Four in Dean Smith’s 36 and last season as head coach.

Feb. 1, 2001

Duke had a five-game winning streak going against Carolina as Matt Doherty brought his first team into Cameron. Duke was down by three but tied it up late on a Mike Dunleavy three-pointer. Then, however, Shane Battier, Duke’s All-America, made a huge mistake in fouling 7-foot Brendan Haywood some 30 feet from the basket with just seconds left. Haywood made both shots, and Carolina shocked the Blue Devils 85-83.

March 4, 2001

Duke needed this one to tie Carolina for a share of the ACC championship, but the Blue Devils were the heavy underdog in Chapel Hill. Earlier in the week, center Carlos Boozer had suffered a broken foot in a loss to Maryland.

Duke, though, came in with the strategy of pushing the ball as aggressively as possible and shooting as many 3’s as they could. It worked as Duke scored the surprisingly easy 95-81 win.

A week later, Duke would destroy the Tar Heels in the ACC title game en route to the 2001 national championship.

March 6, 2005

Duke led Carolina by nine with just over two minutes to play, but didn’t score the rest of the game. Trailing 73-72, Carolina’s Raymond Felton missed the second of two free throws, but Marvin Williams got the offensive rebound, the put back and the foul. Carolina would win an unbelievable comeback 75-73. This was the Sean May game in which the big junior dominated Duke with 26 points and 24 rebounds.

A month later, Carolina would win the 2005 national championship.

March 4, 2006

Carolina’s young Tar Heels came into Cameron and spoiled senior night for Duke’s All-Americas J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams. Carolina’s four freshman, led by Tyler Hansbrough, outscored Duke’s four seniors 55-51 in the 83-76 Carolina upset of the nation’s top-ranked team.

Duke would go on to win its seventh ACC title in eight years, but would lose in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16.

I know I got a little carried away, but I couldn’t help it. There have been so many great games in this long and storied series. I’m sure you have your favorite memories and games as well.

Let’s hope Wednesday’s game will be another Battle of the Blues classic.