North Carolina–NC State rivalry

The North Carolina–NC State rivalry, also known as the State-Carolina game, Carolina–State Game, North Carolina–NC State game, NCSU–UNC game, and other similar permutations, is an ongoing series of athletic competitions between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels and North Carolina State University Wolfpack. The intensity of the game is driven by the universities' similar sizes, the fact the schools are separated by only 25 miles, and the large number of alumni that live within the state's borders. Both are charter members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and are part of the Tobacco Road schools. The most popular games between the two are in football, basketball, and baseball.

In football, the rivalry game is played at the end of each season during Thanksgiving week. As the ACC has moved to a new scheduling system with protected rivalries, North Carolina and NC State are matched up as permanent rivals so as to allow both schools to face each other annually. Formerly, NC State was in the conference's Atlantic Division and North Carolina was in the Coastal Division and were designated as cross-over rivals that played on a yearly basis. The annual game between both schools is the biggest football rivalry game in the state of North Carolina.

Both schools are also known for their basketball history. They have won eight national championships between them (North Carolina 6, NC State 2), and 29 ACC Tournaments (North Carolina 18, NC State 11). North Carolina and NC State are 2 of the 15 college programs that can claim multiple national titles in men's college basketball.

In recent years, some Tar Heel basketball players and fans have claimed that the Wolfpack are not their main rivals in basketball due to the Tar Heels' recent dominance, saying that UNC's top basketball rivalry is the Duke–North Carolina rivalry. However, proponents of the rivalry cite former UNC basketball coach Roy Williams' documented animosity towards NC State and former UNC player Tyler Hansbrough's assertion that his dislike for NC State was greater than his dislike for Duke. Furthermore, many members of the Wolfpack point to the events of the 2024 ACC Tournament, which concluded with NC State upsetting the top-seeded Tar Heels in the championship game, as evidence for the rivalry's legitimacy.

The ACC has split the two in baseball so that the two schools did not meet in the 2014 regular season; the result of that split was the ACC reinstating permanent partners for baseball in 2015. In the interim, the two schools agreed to a nonconference neutral-site game in Durham. NC State and North Carolina faced off in a 3 game series in Raleigh during the 2024 season, with State winning 2 out of the 3 games to win the series.

Football all-time series records

Listed by number of games won.

Current streak: 4 – NC State won in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
All-time record

North Carolina: 68; NC State: 40; Ties: 6

Record in ACC (1953–2023): North Carolina: 37; NC State: 34
Record in Kenan Memorial Stadium: North Carolina: 28; NC State: 20; Ties: 1
Record in Carter–Finley Stadium North Carolina: 15; NC State: 13
Record in Chapel Hill, NC: North Carolina leads 36–23–2
Record in Charlotte, NC: North Carolina leads 2–0
Record in Raleigh, NC: North Carolina leads 30–17–4

Largest victory margins

Listed by score.

NC State's largest victory margin: 45 points, score: 48–3 (October 15, 1988)
North Carolina's largest victory margin: 44 points, score: 44–0 (October 12, 1894)

Conference Championships

NC State 11 (7 ACC, 3 SAIAA, 1 Southern Conference)
North Carolina 9 (4 Southern Conference, 5 ACC)

Bowl Record

NC State 17–17–1 (.500)
North Carolina 15–22 (.405)

All time records

North Carolina 729–568–54 (.562)
NC State 638–599–55 (.517)

Game results since 2000

Men's basketball all-time series records

Listed by number of games won.

All-time series record

North Carolina: 168; NC State: 81

Longest Win Streaks

NC State: 15; North Carolina: 13

By location

In Chapel Hill: North Carolina: 83; NC State: 21
- At Woollen Gymnasium: North Carolina: 34; NC State: 12
- At Carmichael Auditorium: North Carolina 18; NC State: 2
- At Smith Center: North Carolina: 31; NC State: 7
In Raleigh: North Carolina: 68; NC State: 50
- At Thompson Gymnasium: North Carolina: 20; NC State: 13
- At Reynolds Coliseum: North Carolina: 28; NC State: 31
- At ESA/RBC/PNC/LC: North Carolina: 20; NC State: 6
At neutral site: North Carolina: 16; NC State: 10

By Titles

NCAA Championships: North Carolina: 6 (1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017); NC State: 2 (1974, 1983)
Southern Conference Tournament: NC State: 7; North Carolina: 3
Dixie Classic: NC State: 7; North Carolina: 3
Big Four Tournament: NC State: 3; North Carolina: 2
ACC Tournament: North Carolina: 18; NC State: 11

By Final Four appearances

North Carolina: 21; NC State: 4

By coach

North Carolina coaches

Frank McGuire: 13–9
Dean Smith: 60–30
Bill Guthridge: 6–1
Matt Doherty: 2–4
Roy Williams: 33–5
Hubert Davis: 7–2

NC State coaches

Everett Case: 25–19
Press Maravich: 2–2
Norm Sloan: 13–26
Jim Valvano: 7–18
Les Robinson: 5–7
Herb Sendek: 5–17
Sidney Lowe: 1–10
Mark Gottfried: 2–10
Kevin Keatts: 4–13

By decade

Other

Listed by score.

North Carolina's largest victory margin: 107–56 (January 8, 2017)
NC State's largest victory margin: 79–39 (February 19, 1949)

Women's basketball all-time series records

Listed by number of games won.

All-time series record

NC State: 65; UNC: 56

Longest Win Streaks

NC State: 19; UNC: 8

By location

In Chapel Hill: NC State: 21; UNC: 32
- At Carmichael Auditorium/Arena: NC State: 21; UNC: 31
- At Smith Center: NC State: 0; UNC: 1
In Raleigh: NC State: 35; UNC: 17
- At Reynolds Coliseum: NC State: 34; UNC: 17
- At Broughton: NC State: 1; UNC: 0
At neutral site: NC State: 9; UNC: 7

By Titles

NCAA Championships: NC State: 0; UNC: 1
NCAA Final Fours: NC State: 2; UNC: 3
ACC Tournament: NC State: 7; UNC: 9
ACC Regular Season: NC State: 7; UNC: 4

By coach

NC State coaches

Robert R. Doak (74–75): 0–2
Kay Yow (75–09): 49–37
Kellie Harper (09–13): 2–6
Wes Moore (13–Present): 14–11

UNC coaches

Angela Lumpkin (74–77): 3–4
Jennifer Alley (77–86): 7–20
Sylvia Hatchell (86–19): 41–34
Courtney Banghart (19–Present): 5–7

By decade

Other

Listed by score.

NC State's largest victory margin: 89-58 (February 10, 1978)
UNC's largest victory margin: 85-51 (February 13, 1975)

Baseball all-time series records

All-time series record

North Carolina: 168; NC State: 135; Ties: 1
As of May, 2019

ACC regular season championships

North Carolina: 13 (1960, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013)
NC State: 4 (1968, 1975, 1981, 1986)

ACC Tournament championships

North Carolina: 8 (1982,1983,1984, 1990, 2007, 2013, 2019, 2022)
NC State: 4 (1973, 1974, 1975, 1992)

College World Series appearances

North Carolina: 12 (1960, 1966, 1978, 1989, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2018, 2024)
NC State: 4 (1968, 2013, 2021, 2024)

College World Series victories

North Carolina: 16
NC State: 5

NCAA championship game/series appearances

North Carolina: 2 (2006, 2007)
NC State: 0

Men's soccer all-time series records

All-time series record (1950-Present)

North Carolina: 52; NC State: 22; Ties: 13
As of February, 2024

ACC regular season championships

North Carolina: 4 (2000, 2011, 2012, 2016)
NC State: 1 (1994)

ACC tournament championships

North Carolina: 3 (1987, 2000, 2011)
NC State: 1 (1990)

College Cup appearances

North Carolina: 8 (1987, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017)
NC State: 1 (1990)

NCAA championships

North Carolina: 2 (2001, 2011)
NC State: 0

Wrestling all-time series records

All-time series record (1955-present)

Source:

NC State: 52; UNC: 51; Ties: 2
(As of February 7, 2024)

ACC Championships

NC State: 21
- (1976, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
UNC: 17
- (1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006)

All-Americans

NC State: 30
- (Jim Zenz, Matt Reiss, Chris Wentz, Frank Castrignano, Tab Thacker, Chris Mondragon, Scott Turner, Marc Sodano, Mike Lombardo, Michael Stokes, Brian Jackson, Chris Kwortnik, Sylvester Terkay, Steve Williams, Mike Miller, Darrion Caldwell, Darrius Little, Nick Gwiazdowski, Kevin Jack, Tommy Gantt, Pete Renda, Tariq Wilson, Hayden Hidlay, Michael Macchiavello, Trent Hidlay, Jakob Camacho, Thomas Bullard, Daniel Bullard, Kai Orine, Ed Scott)
UNC: 23
- (C.D. Mock, Dave Cook, Jan Michaels, Bob Monaghan, Mike Elinsky, Rob Koll, Bobby Shriner, Tad Wilson, Al Palacio, Lenny Bernstein, Doug Wyland, Enzo Catullo, Pete Welch, Shane Camera, Jody Staylor, Marc Taylor, Stan Banks, Justin Harty, Evan Sola, Chris Rodrigues, Evan Henderson, Ethan Ramos, Joey Ward)

NCAA Champions (individual)

NC State: 7
- Matt Reiss (1980)
- Tab Thacker (1984)
- Scott Turner (1988)
- Sylvester Terkay (1993)
- Darrion Caldwell (2009)
- Nick Gwiazdowski (2014, 2015)
- Michael Macchiavello (2018)
UNC: 4
- C.D. Mock (1982)
- Rob Koll (1988)
- T.J. Jaworsky (1993, 1994, 1995)
- Austin O'Connor (2021, 2023)

NCAA Championships (team)

NC State: 0
UNC: 0

Gymnastics all-time series records

Series record (1981-present)

Source:

NC State: 82; UNC: 52; Ties: 1
(As of February 12, 2024)

Conference Championships

Source:

NC State: 8
- ACC: 2 (1984, 2024)
- EAGL: 6 (1999, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2018)
UNC: 5
- ACC: 0
- EAGL: 5 (2002, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011)

Football all-time series records

Largest victory margins

Conference Championships

Bowl Record

All time records

Game results since 2000

Men's basketball all-time series records

All-time series record

Longest Win Streaks

By location

By Titles

By Final Four appearances

By coach

North Carolina coaches

NC State coaches

By decade

Other

Women's basketball all-time series records

All-time series record

Longest Win Streaks

By location

By Titles

By coach

NC State coaches

UNC coaches

By decade

Other

Baseball all-time series records

All-time series record

ACC regular season championships

ACC Tournament championships

College World Series appearances

College World Series victories

NCAA championship game/series appearances

Men's soccer all-time series records

All-time series record (1950-Present)

ACC regular season championships

ACC tournament championships

College Cup appearances

NCAA championships

Wrestling all-time series records

All-time series record (1955-present)

ACC Championships

All-Americans

NCAA Champions (individual)

NCAA Championships (team)

Gymnastics all-time series records

Series record (1981-present)

Conference Championships

NCAA Champions (individual)

NCAA Championships (team)

Men's swimming/diving all-time series records

Women's swimming/diving all-time series records

Softball all-time series records

Women's soccer all-time series records

Men's cross country all-time series records

Women's cross country all-time series records

Volleyball all-time series records

Men's tennis all-time series records

Women's tennis all-time series records

Men's golf all-time series records

References