Trigger warning: If you are a Duke fan, you might want to stop reading now. Also, help is available. Call 800-GOHEELS for more information.

First, I just want to say, I wish they would let Kenny Smith call the play-by-play when Carolina is on the court. 

Heading into Saturday night, Duke University had a fairytale ending in sight. In his final season, legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski was taking his team on a historic run to the national championship, dispatching powerful opponents with grit and muscle. His Blue Devils looked poised to deliver Coach K his 6^th NCAA title, a perfect ending to a remarkable career. The ideal way for him to go out. 

But it didn’t happen. Instead, Krzyzewski’s retirement was a fairytale of another sort, but for Carolina fans, not Duke. Instead of happily ever after, think Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood. UNC didn’t leave the scene heading into eternal bliss. They vanquished a villain, once and for all, that had terrorized them for decades. And they did it twice, just to make sure he was dead.

Instead of a fairytale ending, it was a fairytale beginning. UNC started the season struggling under a new coach. They lost to blowout margins and played in near empty stadiums. Pundits speculated that the team had made the wrong decision in choosing Hubert Davis, a UNC alum who had never been head coach of any team, much less a program like UNC. They never cracked a Top 10 ranking all season and spoiled alums were pissed. 

That all changed on March 5. UNC ruined Coach K’s send off, defeating the 4^th ranked Blue Devils in their house on Krzyzewski’s final game in Cameron Indoor Stadium. That night, UNC razed Krzyzewskiville. On Saturday, they brought in the bulldozers to clear the debris. 

For Carolina fans, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect ending for the Krzyzewski era. As far as most of us are concerned, the season is already complete. The games against Duke to close out their regular season and post-season will become part of UNC lore. They will live along side of Walter Davis’ last minute shot when the Tarheels came back from an eight point deficit to beat Duke with 17 seconds to go. Or the Bloody Montross game. Or Hansbrough’s broken nose. 

Sure we play Kansas tonight for the national championship, but the games that sealed this team’s legacy in the history books have already been won. Regardless of what happens in New Orleans this evening, even a triple overtime victory, the story of this season will be the wins over Duke, ending Krzyzewski’s career both at home and for good in the Final Four. 

No, the rivalry won’t end and Duke will surely have some moments to savor in the future. But the memory of this season will stimulate endorphins in the minds of Carolina fans for decades to come and cause Duke fans to wince every time it’s mentioned. It’s the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. It will be part of the legend of the rivalry forever more. Whatever happens tonight matters less than what happened Saturday.

That said, Go Heels!