Saturday's basketball game between Duke and North Carolina for the ACC championship almost qualifies as a late-season ritual.
This will be the 14th time since the conference began play in 1953-54 that the regular-season title or a tie for first has hinged on the outcome. Saturday's game in Chapel Hill will mark the third time in four seasons that first or a tie for first in the regular season is at stake.
The Tar Heels won 79-71 in the 2008-09 season in the Smith Center and 76-68 in 2007-08 at Duke.
Here's a recap of the rivals' late-season showdowns:
2008-09: UNC 79-71, Chapel Hill
The Tar Heels finished 13-3 and dropped Duke into a second-place tie with Wake Forest at 11-5.
En route to the national championship, the then-second-ranked Heels got double-digit scoring from Tyler Hansbrough (17), Wayne Ellington (16), Deon Thompson (14), Ty Lawson (13) and Danny Green (12).
2007-08: UNC 76-68, Durham
Ranked No. 1 nationally, North Carolina took control early but had to hold on late to finish 14-2 in the league.
Duke (12-4) needed a win to pull even in the final standings, but couldn't contain Hansbrough (16 points, 15 rebounds) inside.
2000-01: Duke 95-81, Chapel Hill
The Blue Devils kicked off their drive to the National Championship by dominating the fourth-ranked Tar Heels in the second half.
The win left each side 13-3, but UNC still was made the top seed in the league tournament. Shane Battier's 25 points and 11 rebounds led the win. When the two teams met a week later for the ACC tournament title in Atlanta, Battier did it again - 20 points, 13 rebounds in a 79-53 Duke romp.
1997-98: Duke 77-75, Durham
Top-ranked Duke wiped out a 12-point halftime deficit behind Roshown McLeod's 23 points and Steve Wojciehowski's 11 assists to finish 15-1.
North Carolina (13-3) needed a win to gain a tie for first and got 23 points and 13 rebounds from Antawn Jamison, but lost some punch when playmaker Ed Cota fouled out late.
The afternoon - Feb. 28 (recently retired Dean Smith's birthday) - was so hot that Mike Krzyzewski went to golf-shirt attire for the second half in his 500th career win.
A postgame altercation between a celebrating Duke student and UNC player Ademola Okulaja led to a brief, uneventful police investigation.
1990-91: Duke 83-77, Chapel Hill
Freshman Grant Hill (18 points, five rebounds, five assists) later cited the win at North Carolina as the confidence boost Duke needed to go on to the school's first NCAA title.
The eighth-ranked Blue Devils (11-3) took the regular-season title but Carolina (10-4) came back to win 96-74 a week later in the tournament title game. Both teams reached the Final Four in Indianapolis.
1988-89: Duke, 88-86, Chapel Hill
The Blue Devils used three late 3-point shots by guard Quin Snyder to get a win that knocked UNC out of a first-place tie and left N.C. State (10-4) with the regular-season title.
North Carolina got even the next week with a 77-74 tournament championship win.
1985-86: Duke, 82-74, Durham
Duke (12-2) had to win the game to lock up the race and keep out of a first-place tie with UNC and Georgia Tech.
David Henderson's 27 points and 21 by Johnny Dawkins allowed the Devils to pull away late.
UNC shot 64 percent but missed nine of 15 free throws.
It was the game in which Al McGuire coined the phrase "Cameron Crazies."
1984-85: UNC, 78-68, Durham
The most competitive regular-season race in ACC history ended with Carolina, Georgia Tech and N.C. State at 9-5 in first.
Duke and Maryland, at 8-6, tied for fourth.
Brad Daugherty's 23 points and 12 rebounds led the win.
Georgia Tech was awarded the top tournament seed and UNC second. The Yellow Jackets then won the title game over North Carolina, 57-54, in Atlanta.
1978-79: Duke 47-40, Durham
One of the most unforgettable games in series history found the Blue Devils up 7-0 at halftime.
Since there wasn't a shot clock, Tar Heels coach Dean Smith used a slow down offense in hopes of drawing Duke's Bill Foster out of a zone defense. Duke got 17 points from wingman Jim Spanarkel to leave both teams 9-3 and tied for first. North Carolina got the top seed.
In the tournament final the following week at Greensboro, Duke won again 71-63. Both teams then lost in Raleigh in their NCAA tournament opening games on what immediately became known as "Black Sunday."
1977-78: UNC 87-83, Chapel Hill
It was Duke's last loss until the National Championship game in St. Louis.
The Tar Heels, ranked eighth at the time, got 34 points and five assists from Phil Ford in his final home game at Carmichael Auditorium to take the regular season race at 9-3. Duke (8-4) then won seven straight before falling to Kentucky in the championship.
1960-61: UNC 69-66 (OT), Chapel Hill
Frank McGuire's last game as North Carolina's coach was among the most dramatic of his nine seasons at the school.
The Heels (12-2) had to win the game to lock up the regular-season title. Duke (10-4) needed a win to create a three-way tie for first but wound up third behind No. 2 Wake Forest (11-3).
York Larese's 24 points led the win. But three key players - Duke's Art Heyman and UNC's Larry Brown and Donnie Walsh - were suspended as a result of a fight that took place in the first regular-season game.
On a one-year NCAA probation and ineligible for the national championship tournament, McGuire withheld UNC from the following week's ACC tournament, giving the No. 1 seed to Wake.
In May, McGuire left to coach the Philadelphia Warriors, and Dean Smith was promoted to head coach.
1957-58: Duke 59-46, Durham
A year after the Tar Heels' 32-0 NCAA title, Duke coach Hal Bradley did not make a single substitution in a game that gave his team the regular-season title at 11-3, and left North Carolina in a tie with State at 10-4 for second.
Bob Vernon led the win with 16 points, followed by Bucky Allen, Paul Schmidt and Jim Newcome with 11 each. The fifth Devil, Bobby Joe Harris, had 10.
The Heels, led by Pete Brennan with 10 points and 10 rebounds, reached the tournament title game but lost to Maryland in Raleigh.
1955-56: UNC 73-65, Chapel Hill
The winner would join N.C. State at 11-3 in a tie for first and the loser would fall into a tie for third with Wake Forest at 10-4.
In stifling Woollen Gym, Carolina raced back from a six-point deficit at the half to score 45 points in the second, but the Wolfpack still claimed the top seed in the ACC tournament.
With 31 points, Lennie Rosenbluth of UNC and Duke's Ronnie Meyer (32) staged a remarkable performance.
In the tournament title game, N.C. State defeated Wake Forest after North Carolina and Duke were stopped in the semifinals.
