Duke Surging Ahead: Insider Says Blue Devils “Pulling Away” from UNC, NC State in ACC Arms Race

Duke Surging Ahead: Insider Says Blue Devils “Pulling Away” from UNC, NC State in ACC Arms Race

The battle for basketball supremacy in the state of North Carolina has always been fierce. For decades, Duke, North Carolina, and NC State have fought to dominate the ACC and college hoops at large. But now, one insider believes the scales are tipping and tipping heavily in Durham’s favor.

According to CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone, head coach Jon Scheyer has the Blue Devils not only riding high after a Final Four run, but also pulling away from their bitter Triangle rivals in Chapel Hill and Raleigh.

“Duke has finished higher in the ACC standings than both North Carolina and NC State in four of the last six seasons  including a stunning 19-1 run in league play last year  and its strong offseason has seemingly helped it further the gap between the other two schools in the Triangle,” Boone noted.

For Scheyer, entering his fourth season in charge, the timing couldn’t be better. The Blue Devils are bringing in the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation  headlined by superstar freshmen who project as instant-impact players and look poised to contend not just for the ACC crown, but for the program’s first national championship since 2015.

Meanwhile, UNC and NC State both face question marks. The Tar Heels, despite their dramatic run to the 2022 national title game, have struggled to find consistent footing since. Last season’s 23-14 finish ended with a second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Ole Miss, a bitter pill for a fanbase that still expects banners.

NC State, on the other hand, is entering the Will Wade era. While Wade brings a track record of winning from LSU, he also arrives with plenty of baggage from his NCAA recruiting scandal. That instability, combined with expected “growing pains” in his first season, makes it hard to imagine the Wolfpack catching up to Scheyer’s machine at Duke anytime soon.

Boone even pointed out that North Carolina might not even be the second-best team in the conference anymore, citing Louisville’s resurgence as a potential spoiler to the traditional Duke-UNC dominance in the ACC.

For Blue Devils fans, this feels like a changing of the guard moment. Mike Krzyzewski’s shadow still looms over the program, but Scheyer is carving out his own identity: relentless recruiter, confident leader, and a coach who’s quickly silencing doubts that he could carry the weight of the Duke brand.

The numbers back it up. Four top finishes in six years. A nearly perfect ACC record last season. The nation’s best recruiting haul waiting in the wings. All of it paints the picture of a program not just staying afloat in the post-Coach K era  but thriving.

As the 2025–26 season approaches, Duke looks like a runaway train, and if Boone is right, the gap between Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh isn’t closing anytime soon. For UNC and NC State, the pressure is on — because in this rivalry, “second place” is never good enough.