How to watch Duke vs. North Carolina on TV or online, plus 3 things to know

This is the biggest Duke-North Carolina game since ... ever? It certainly isn’t going to live up to the hype of a Duke-UNC basketball game, but this is the best both teams have been when they’ve met in a long time. The Blue Devils are historically one of the worst teams in FBS and, in their recent resurgence, the Tar Heels have disappointed. This year, however, things are different.

North Carolina is nearing the College Football Playoff top 25 (the Tar Heels are ranked in the traditional polls) after a surprising 7-1 start. The season started out looking like another disappointment with a loss to North Carolina, but UNC has won every game since and looks to have the upper hand in the ACC Coastal with a win last week over Pitt. But starting with that Pitt game, the schedule gets tougher, with consecutive games against Duke, Miami and Virginia Tech. This one might be the toughest of the bunch.

Duke is 6-2 with a win against Virginia Tech and close losses to Northwestern and Miami. The Northwestern loss doesn’t look bad now that the Wildcats are also 6-2, and the Miami loss was a giant fluke. Still, there are no real quality wins. We’ll learn a lot more about both Duke and North Carolina from this game, and it will likely be the biggest win for either team.

TV: Noon ET, ESPN2

Radio: Duke, North Carolina

Online streaming: WatchESPN

Spread: North Carolina is favored by eight points.

Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at Duke Basketball Report for Duke fans and Tar Heel Blog for North Carolina fans.

1. A Duke-North Carolina football game that means something! Exciting! You should watch for that reason alone.

2. Duke has more losses, but the Blue Devils have been just as impressive as the Tar Heels this year. This should be a very good game.

3. Can the Duke offense keep up with North Carolina’s? That could be the biggest factor in this game.