Do Not Storm the Court Against Your Rival

In the last 86 matchups on Tobacco Road between the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke University Blue Devils, UNC holds a 44-42 advantage. This makes for one of the most balanced rivalries in all of college basketball. So here's a question: why would either program storm the court after beating the other?

Now for those of you who believe that court-storming is a fun part of the game for college fans, you are mistaken. It occurs to signify a monumental victory against a powerhouse team that visited your home-court only to lose the game. The nature and idea of storming the court is a nice one; however, it is dangerous for the players and the amount of times has dramatically increased within the past few years. This is why the NCAA may disallow taking to the field in such a frenzied matter and why students should restrain themselves more.

So let me present the question again: why would UNC storm the court after beating Duke? They're one of the most successful programs in all of college basketball history and this win is not monumental at all. Vegas had a line of only three points in Duke's favor and many people chose UNC to come out on top. So was it that much of a surprise that Duke lost AT Chapel Hill? I know I wasn't surprised.

In my opinion, storming the court is almost like saying, "Hey, you're better than us, but we beat you on our turf." You can ask any fan of any team if their team is worse than their rival. You'll be hard-pressed to find many fans who can admit to that and I am certain you won't find any UNC or Duke fan saying that the other team is historically better. For all of the top programs in the country, I don't think you can find one instance in recent memory that they stormed the court. When a team is as good as UNC or Duke, they expect to win every home game.

This is why it is absurd that Tar Heel fans stormed the court after beating arch-rival Duke. The culture of these programs is that you expect to win every game that you play. I know Roy Williams expected to win this game. In conclusion, it is a shame that North Carolina stormed the court against their rival Duke, because they admitted to their rivals who play 8 miles away down Tobacco Road that they are the better team and program.