For those joining our communal life already in progress, this is a pinnacle moment during winter in North Carolina. We are ready for Duke and North Carolina to play a basketball game.

This is the event, or more accurately the first of two annually scheduled games, that kindles the greatest wealth of memories and fuels the greatest passions and interest among residents in our neck of the woods. Other contests come and go, but this is the game we count on to be played fiercely, well, and without notable diminution of concentration or effort for as many minutes as the action lasts.

This is the clash that causes old-timers to reminisce most avidly, rattling off names, situations, plays, and results with the fervor of parents bragging on their children.

This is the game we savor, measure seasons by, analyze endlessly before and after the fact. Only the final score is not subject to reinterpretation.

The fine women’s programs at Chapel Hill and Durham actually have performed at a higher level than the men in recent seasons. Yet few people in North Carolina gave Monday’s meeting of ranked women’s squads at Cameron Indoor Stadium more than a passing thought. It was a Duke-Carolina game, but not THE Duke-Carolina game.

Tar Heel coach Sylvia Hatchell reportedly felt it necessary to manufacture a celebration after her squad won handily on national television. She directed the team bus to downtown Chapel Hill, then led a few of her players in throwing toilet paper into two trees. That’s a bit like nominating yourself for an award; the only recognition Hatchell received was a police warning for littering and an admonition to clean up.

Back at Cameron, humbled (well, OK, unhappy) Duke students endured a large contingent of UNC fans whooping it up after the poised Tar Heel women dismantled the Blue Devils. The Crazies replied by chanting, “Wait ‘Til Wednesday!”

That being the day of the first men’s clash. So, there!

Last March a bit of real blood was added to the proverbial bad blood such rivalries generate -- at least among fans – when Gerald Henderson felled North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough with 14.5 seconds remaining in a decisive Tar Heel victory at Chapel Hill.

Hansbrough’s nose was broken by Henderson’s apparently inadvertent blow, requiring the UNC star to wear an uncomfortable protective mask for a handful of games. Video of the foul was replayed endlessly on TV and the Web, and post-game comments were scrutinized like courtroom testimony.

Newcomers may have heard or read something about this incident.

The foul, and feeling about it, elevated the level of anticipation for this year’s initial meeting a few notches above normal.

Normal being a controlled frenzy.

This is big stuff. This is so big, TV’s Dick Vitale aimed his on-air return from throat surgery to coincide with a game he has helped hype to the heavens. This is so big, even Vitale cannot overblow the stature of the rivalry.

Now, to his credit, Vitale may be, oh, shall we say, a bit bombastic, but he does his homework. The man knows an argument can be made that no rivalry in American sports equal this one in terms of talented players and coaches, extensive history, depth of fan interest, and consistent quality of competition.

In fact, the high level of competition in UNC-Duke men’s games could serve as a definition of consistent excellence. Since the advent of the Atlantic Coast Conference for the 1953-54 season, Duke and UNC have met in men’s basketball 143 times. Of those contests, only 3 saw neither team ranked in the top 20 in the AP poll.

That’s one in every 48 games, or 2.1 percent of the time, in which neither team was considered among the nation's best. The last such meeting occurred on February 27, 1960. That is five weeks after N.C. State head coach Sidney Lowe was born, and preceding the birth of three other ACC men’s coaches.

By contrast, in 25 of 143 games (about one in every six), either Duke or Carolina was ranked first in the country. Included was the opener of the Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center in January 1986, won by the top-ranked Tar Heels over No. 3 Duke.

Prior to this season, both squads ranked in the top 10 when they met on 37 occasions, a little better than one game in every four. In such circumstances, the higher-ranked team wins about half the time. Duke is currently #2, North Carolina #3.

Wednesday’s game has the usual tangle of subplots.

Opponents repeatedly try to pound the slighter, perimeter-oriented Blue Devils, who have taken to counting the stitches needed to close their respective wounds. Can Mike Krzyzewski’s aggressive, denial man-to-man defense keep the Tar Heels from getting good looks at the post, where Hansbrough lurks as an often-dominant presence?

North Carolina has been impressive, but not consistently. Will Roy Williams’ Heels be able to prosecute their usual offensive onslaught, best in the ACC, if an ankle injury limits playmaker Ty Lawson’s surpassing quickness with the ball? If Lawson can't play, will a compensatory hero emerge?

And did we mention something about an incident involving Hansbrough and Henderson?

UNC’s Wayne Ellington was Henderson’s high school teammate at The Episcopal Academy in Pennsylvania, and vouches for his friend’s good nature. The Tar Heel sophomore helped facilitate a few informal games this summer at the Smith Center involving players from the respective squads. Hansbrough and Henderson played in one of them.

“I feel like we have a good enough relationship where we can play pickup,” Hansbrough said recently. The junior insisted the collision of nose and elbow was a matter relegated to the past.

Not for fans, however.

Given the likelihood of ambient hostility, it would be a surpassing act of sportsmanship, and a welcome one, if Hansbrough made a point of publicly shaking hands with Henderson prior to the game. The competition will be sufficiently heated without the taint of hatred.

Then again, harboring grudges, nurturing past slights, aching to get even, is also integral to a rivalry. Wednesday’s loser is sure to begin looking forward to March 8 as soon as the blood, er, perspiration dries. That’s when North Carolina travels to Durham for round two.