The NC State-UNC Rivalry and Why We Care About UNC’s Problems

Big Four Rivals General UNC Scandal36

This post was written before the UCF game but due to scheduling SFN decided it best to move the publish date to September 20.  Enjoy.

During the course of the UNC fiasco, it’s been asked by NC State fans and Carolina fans alike why Wolfpackers are concerning themselves with the Tar Heels’ problems.  So far, either we haven’t been dignifying the nay-sayers with a response or we simply don’t have a firm handle on it ourselves.  Either way, as football season kicks up, NC State has more to talk about than just a powder-puff opponent (like WCU last week), and questions still arise as to why NC State is pursuing the allegations over the hill so aggressively, it’s time to look back on why the Wolfpack even cares about Carolina.

We all know about the Jimmy Valvano “scandal” (you know… the one where Valvano was found not to be guilty of his most serious allegations and he got boned anyway) and how the media immediately jumped on the coach during the onset of the investigation.  But I think it’s important for State fans and Tar Heel fans alike to understand that this isn’t only a 20 year grudge (even though for many that is a big part of it).

Like it or not, whether Carolina wants to admit it or not, University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University have been rivals ever since the North Carolina General Assembly, composed of a large number of UNC-CH alumni, refused to give any money to the new Land Grant college as many other states did to their respective Land Grant institutions.  It’s also worth mentioning that Land Grant funding was originally being given to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but somehow disappeared once it came time to establish a “partner” institution. The rivalry between the Tar Heels and Wolfpack isn’t just athletics, it’s foundational to who we are.

Athletically, this rivalry has gone back since our first UNC-NC State football game on October 12, 1894 and our first basketball game in the 1910’s (compared to the UNC-DUKE rivalry that started in the mid-1920’s in both sports).  It’s difficult to read too much into the series history between NC State and UNC (142-75 UNC in basketball and 63-30-6 UNC in football) since Carolina has had a longer established tradition athletically than NC State and since the nature of athletics was completely different prior to the establishment of conferences (the Southern Conference starting in 1921), but one thing can’t be denied: in the lifetime of the newest generation of Pack fans, UNC has enjoyed the reputation of “the more successful school” for most of the last 20 years.

Actually, there is only a short period of time from around 2000-01 – 2003-04 that NC State was generally more “successful” than UNC in both football and basketball.  No wonder many of the (a) younger and (b) dumber Carolina fans don’t recognize NC State as their rivals.  During this time span, NC State split 4-4 with UNC in basketball and dominated Carolina 3-1 in football.  In other words, during Carolina’s worst basketball performance (thank you Doherty), we still only split with UNC.  Much of this is agreeably due to the Jimmy Valvano fiasco, but at the end of the day, the record doesn’t care why someone lost… only that they lost.

So why does NC State care about Carolina and their troubles?  Aside from the already discussed massive recruiting/performance implications the fall-out in Chapel Hill could produce for the Wolfpack, it’s also about the same thing every rivalry is about: bragging rights.  What NC State has experienced in the past 20 years has been two decades (spare a few years) of bragging by Carolina on how superior their teams and athletic program are to NC State.  The past 100 years we have dealt with piss-poor treatment from UNC Chapel Hill as an institution.  Why does this matter to NC State fans?  If you speak to the student/alumni, it’s institutional payback and a ‘settling of the score’ for watching Carolina treat NC State like the ‘lesser hick school in west Raleigh’.  If you speak to the sports fan, it is payback for the arrogant chest-beating that Tar Heels have thrown in State fans’ faces since the downfall of our basketball program and resulting downfall of our athletic program in general.

Bottom line: this isn’t about gloating or being “mean”.  It’s definitely not about any kind of ill-conceived notion of “Carolina Envy”.  This is about poetic justice, the disrespect Carolina has treated NC State with over the years, and showing Carolina how it feels to be treated like NC State.  Personally, I fully intend on being generous enough to give Carolina all of the “NC State experience” they deserve.

About NCStatePride

***ABOUT THE AUTHOR: NCStatePride has been writing for StateFansNation.com since 2010 and is a 2009 graduate of the College of Engineering.

Big Four Rivals General UNC Scandal

36 Responses to The NC State-UNC Rivalry and Why We Care About UNC’s Problems

  1. tjfoose1 09/20/2010 at 2:12 PM #

    You hade till,”social justice”. That term has a completely different meaning than the one you intended.

  2. NCStatePride 09/20/2010 at 2:20 PM #

    Right. Poetic Justice is more accurate. Will edit this afternoon.

  3. GoldenChain 09/20/2010 at 4:27 PM #

    BJurisDoctor, congrats that you drank the Kool Aid for the sake of a cheap professional degree so you could get kids off of traffic violations, file wills, and close property.
    I met with my trade attorney in DC last week (White & Case) along with #3 son and he advised that they started their 3rd year graduates at $160k plus sent them to GTown for a 4th year …for what its worth.
    But I’m sure you’re proud you went to xarolina and pull for them except when they’re playing State….whatever.
    Personally I wouldn’t have even said that but hey, say what you like.
    My uncle was a civil engineer from State all 3 of his kids were VD’s at our HS and all 3 went to xh. One a Dr, a dentist, and a pharmasist, said he had so much money invested there he’d go to a game but he sure as hell wouldn’t pull for them.
    ….now that’s a real WPer.
    “…well we just shouldn’t blame the school….” THE DAMN SCHOOL IS WHAT MADE THEM THE MONSTERS THEY ARE!!!!!!!!

  4. Techno_Wolfpacker 09/20/2010 at 5:18 PM #

    It is not even the people that actually attended/graduated from UNC…It is the losers that never went to any college or, in my area, that went to EZU…Two reasons I hate Pirate fans.

  5. BJD95 09/20/2010 at 7:10 PM #

    ^^ Uh, what part of loving to watch them lose games on the field didn’t register?

    I cheer for UNC in basketball against Duke or UConn, and that’s it. I cheer for Duke in football against UNC or Notre Dame, and in basketball against UConn, and that’s it.

    I have no divided loyalties, but yes, I do think it’s ignorant to act like UNC-CH doesn’t contribute to the people of NC. That is all.

  6. OldWuf 09/20/2010 at 9:00 PM #

    I have 2 degrees from NCSU. I now have a son at NCSU. While he was growing up I tried to point out the character flaws of most of the Tarholes.:) More importantly I have tried to emphasize the founding mission of NCSU. We are to share our world-class knowledge and skill with the people of North Carolina(or whatever community) no matter how rural or urban or backward. UNC has never had that mission and it shows. I grew up in a rural part of the state. I had plenty of mentors, dozens in fact, that were NCSU grads. Grownups that took time to guide and encourage because they saw the future benefit to their community. I can’t name a SINGLE UNCer that did anything. The only UNC folks I knew had inherited money. Since I have graduated I have lived in small rural communities. I am sure I have probably been the most educated person that many of my neighbors have had contact with. Because of my manner, I’m sure they assumed the UNCer or ASUer was, and I never told them otherwise. That is what being part of the Pack is about. It isn’t glamorous, it doesn’t make the social pages. It is about sharing that world-class education- putting it into play for the betterment of your community. Completing the task, solving the problem, not just talking about it.
    Oh by the way…..Carolina Sucks!!

  7. NCStatePride 09/20/2010 at 11:56 PM #

    Amen. I always hear it said that UNC is the representative school for North Carolina, but you would never know it by the fans or, yes I’ll call it for what it is, many of UNC’s graduates. Ironically, the only time I started seeing ‘reasonable Tar Heels’ was when I moved away from NC… which makes sense since many teenagers I graduated high school with attended UNC for no other reason besides ‘Come on… it’s CAROLINA.’ Yeah, great goal-oriented dreams, douche. All I can make judgements on is what I have experienced, not other people’s hear-say: Many people, grads or not, are tremedously arrogent assholes who are the first to be there when they beat you and first to make excuses when they lose. They spend many college-related discussions not just talking about fond memories or funny anecdotes, but about how elite their institution and the latest sports/academic poll they just appeared on. These charges/investigations against UNC are poetic justice at it’s best.

    Go to Hell Carolina!

  8. GoldenChain 09/21/2010 at 8:40 AM #

    “I think we do ourselves and the entire state of North Carolina a disservice if we castigate the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a whole.”

    Yeah, whatever Sally.

    HEY, I have an idea, go onto I(diot) C(entral) and suggest the same about State and see what happens?!
    I’ll give a prediction: “Rednecks” “Farmers” “Low-class” etc.

    I can’t imagine that someone would come onto StateFanNation and say such without expecting to be lambasted.

  9. PoppaJohn 09/21/2010 at 1:34 PM #

    ^ “Yea whatever Sally” – hilarious!

    Silverwolf got it right. I’m a “mid-1970’s wolf” and remember when we were considered an elite program. It can happen again.

    The one thing we need to avoid like the plague is measuring ourselves by them. We have our own high standards and should focus on reaching them.

  10. GoldenChain 09/21/2010 at 3:13 PM #

    “The one thing we need to avoid like the plague is measuring ourselves by them. We have our own high standards and should focus on reaching them”

    Hey, if what you’re saying is that we don’t need to cheat and do player’s homework for them and hand out degrees like Papa Johns coupons, then I certainly agree. However I wouldn’t mind getting a couple more NC’s in hoops….comparison or not.

  11. ShadowRAM 09/24/2010 at 2:19 AM #

    If you want all the details on the origins of the rivalry and to learn some other interesting things about our campus come take the free NCSU Historic East Campus Tour next week. It’s being led by Matt Robbins of “Finish the [Bell]Tower” fame and also a State grad.

    http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160933393921634

    You’ll “love” UNC even more when you find out the rest of the story!

1 2

Leave a Reply