Tobacco Road: UNC, Duke, NC State and Wake Basketball

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Tobacco Road is UNC, Duke, NC State and Wake Forest: 13 NCAA men’s titles between them (UNC 6, Duke 5, NC State 2). The 2027 ACC Tournament is March 9-13 in Greensboro, and the schools’ own pages still disagree on some 2026-27 rivalry dates.

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• NCAA Men’s Titles13UNC 6, Duke 5, NC State 2
• Cameron Seats9,314per Duke
• ACC TournamentMar 9-132027, Greensboro
• NCAA Rounds in NCMar 19 & 212027, Charlotte

Four ACC schools share the middle of the state: UNC in Chapel Hill, Duke in Durham, NC State in Raleigh and Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. Basketball fans call the stretch Tobacco Road. A Duke feature traces the name to Erskine Caldwell’s novel.

NCAA Titles and Final Fours

Not confirmed: UNC’s pages state six titles but do not list the winning years together, so we leave the years off. We did not find a current Final Four count for NC State or Wake Forest on their own sites, or a women’s title count for Duke or NC State.

2026-27 Men’s Rivalry Games

Read this first: the schools’ own schedule pages do not agree on several of these dates. Where they differ we show each version with its source. Every school also marks its schedule as subject to change. Check both teams’ pages the week of the game.

Not confirmed: The Duke home game at NC State was not on the pages we read. Our events calendar lists the Tobacco Road Classic on Dec 15 and UNC-Duke on Feb 8 and Mar 2, from the pages read when those rows were added. The table above is the newer read.

Women’s Rivalry Games

UNC women play at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, NC State at Reynolds Coliseum (James T. Valvano Arena) in Raleigh and Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The ACC Tournament

The 2027 T. Rowe Price ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament is March 9-13, 2027 (Tuesday through Saturday), at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro. It will be the 30th time Greensboro has hosted it, the ACC said, and the 74th tournament overall. The 50th ACC Women’s Tournament is March 3-7, 2027, at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

Tickets: the ACC has not published 2027 ticket details yet. It says individual and group ticket details will be announced during the year. Last season, single-session tickets were first sold on Feb 24, 2026, through Ticketmaster (ACC release); that is last year’s pattern, not a 2027 date.

NCAA Tournament: Charlotte’s Spectrum Center hosts first- and second-round games on March 19 and 21, 2027, with UNC Charlotte and the ACC as hosts (NCAA future sites). No other North Carolina city is on the 2027 list.

How to Get Into Cameron Indoor Stadium

Cameron seats 9,314 and opened in 1940. Duke men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and wrestling all play there. Getting a men’s ticket is hard by design:

• Season ticketsGo to Iron Dukes donors at the Stadium Level or above. Duke projects at least $8,000 a year for a pair, with a three-year commitment (Duke ticket page).
• Single gamesJoin the official Duke Men’s Basketball Waitlist. Iron Dukes members get offers first, then the public, first come, first served. Iron Dukes membership starts at $120 a year. Offers are not guaranteed and may be standing room or seats returned by season ticket holders.
• AuctionDuke sells some games through GoDuke Auction.
• Easier way inDuke women’s games are also at Cameron. Their tickets were not priced on the pages we read.

Krzyzewskiville is the tent city Duke students set up each winter before the UNC game. It started in 1986 and turned 40 in 2026 (Duke Today). It is for Duke students; the tenting rules are not published on a page we read.

Not confirmed: Single-game prices for Duke, UNC and NC State are not published as figures on their pages. Duke prints no street address for Cameron itself (its 110 Whitford Drive address is the Iron Dukes office). See our Cameron Indoor Stadium page and Duke game-day guide.

Dean E. Smith Center

UNC moved into the Smith Center in 1986. Its first game, on Jan 18, 1986, was No. 1 Carolina over No. 3 Duke, 95-92 (UNC). Fans use Entrances A, B or D; students use C. The arena is closed to the public outside games and events. UNC has had a clear-bag policy at the Smith Center since the 2017-18 season.

Not confirmed: UNC lists two street numbers on Skipper Bowles Drive (200 and 300). Current seating capacity, single-game prices, clear-bag size limits and the current shuttle fare were not on pages dated 2025 or 2026. The last shuttle fare we found ($3 one way, $5 round trip) is from a 2018 page. See our Dean Smith Center page and UNC game-day guide.

NC State and Wake Forest

Free Basketball Museums

• Carolina Basketball Museum, Ernie Williamson Athletics Center, 450 Skipper Bowles Dr., Chapel Hill: Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m., free (UNC).
• Duke Basketball Museum and Athletics Hall of Fame, Schwartz-Butters Building, Duke campus: Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on non-game days, free.

Not confirmed: Duke’s museum hours come from a 2023 page and its free entry from the 2010 opening release. Game-day hours vary. Check goduke.com before you go.

Kid and Budget Notes

• FreeBoth museums above cost nothing and fit a weekday visit to Chapel Hill or Durham.
• Cheapest ACC gameWake Forest lists non-conference seats from $15 at LJVM Coliseum.
• Women’s gamesPut you in the same rivalries and, at Duke, in Cameron itself.
• Kids’ field trip gameUNC lists a Field Trip Day women’s game against NC State on Dec 9 (11 a.m.); see the conflict note above.

Checked Nov 3, 2026. Dates, prices, hours and rules on this page were read on goheels.com, goduke.com, gopack.com, godeacs.com, theacc.com, ncaa.com and today.duke.edu on that date. They can change; check the official page before you go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

1. UNC men’s basketball schedule (read Nov 3, 2026)
2. Duke men’s basketball schedule (read Nov 3, 2026)
3. NC State men’s basketball schedule (read Nov 3, 2026)
4. Wake Forest men’s basketball schedule (read Nov 3, 2026)
5. UNC, NCAA Tournament bid release (titles, Final Fours) (read Nov 3, 2026)
6. Duke, Mike Krzyzewski bio (titles) (read Nov 3, 2026)
7. NC State, basketball history (read Nov 3, 2026)
8. UNC women’s 1994 title (read Nov 3, 2026)
9. ACC, 2026-27 championship sites and dates (read Nov 3, 2026)
10. NCAA, Men’s Final Four future sites (read Nov 3, 2026)
11. Duke, Cameron Indoor Stadium facility page (read Nov 3, 2026)
12. Duke men’s basketball waitlist (read Nov 3, 2026)
13. UNC, Smith Center facility page (read Nov 3, 2026)
14. Wake Forest, single-game tickets on sale (read Nov 3, 2026)
15. Duke Today, Krzyzewskiville turns 40 (read Nov 3, 2026)

Read on November 3, 2026. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.