South's Oldest Rivalry - Nature of The Rivalry

Nature of The Rivalry

There is considerable historical lineage and academic standing between the two universities involved. The University of Virginia was founded by third President of the United States and founding father Thomas Jefferson whereas the University of North Carolina was the first operational state university in the United States & alma-mater of U.S President, James K Polk and literary writer Thomas Wolfe. When the Richard Moll book listing the original eight "Public Ivies" (public colleges with high academic and tough admissions standards) was published in 1985, there were only two sharing a common athletic conference: the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina.

In addition, the rivalry is also nicknamed the "Gentlemen's Rivalry." One reason for this moniker is the prestigious image, both academically & socially, of both universities. Both institutions' student bodies tend to mirror one another from a social & academic standpoint. As for today and recent decades, the rivalry has been lackluster and less heated despite a few recent historical wins by UNC. In 2010, former coach Butch Davis ended a 14 year drought and won in Charlottesville (44-10), officially ending "the Charlottesville Curse" (commonly referred to by Carolina fans), and was UNC's first victory in Charlottesville since 1981. UNC also beat UVa the following season in 2011 to win 2 straight in the series, which had not been done by a UNC football team since the mid '70's into the early '80's, when Carolina won 9 straight and dominated the series. In addition, when UNC coach Mack Brown took over the Carolina program in the late 1980s and had very successful recruiting efforts, especially in the talent rich Tidewater (VA) area throughout the '90's, the rivalry really hit its peak when highly rated (VA) prospect Ronald Curry committed to North Carolina over Virginia.