Man, the Carolina-Duke rivalry is heating up in May.

While the rest of the basketball world focuses on LeBron James winning his 17 straight Eastern Conference playoff game and a probable sweep of Toronto to await the winner of the brutal Golden State-OKC western finals, the blue blood rivalry is dominating the off-season around here.

The Tar Heels are buoyed by Kennedy Meeks and Justin Jackson returning to school, giving Carolina three returning starters and another roster that will go at least 10 deep with experience and quality youth. And Duke just keeps adding five-star recruits to another No. 1 class with the signing of 6-10 center Marques Bolden.

It is Mike Krzyzewski’s pleasant problem to decide who plays next season among a loaded recruiting class and returning starters Grayson Allen, Amile Jefferson and Matt Jones.  UNC assistant coach C.B. McGrath could not help himself from needling the Blue Devils on Twitter, reminding his followers that despite all the hype Duke has won ZERO ACC regular-season championships in the last six years and his coach Roy Williams has won 6 in the last 10 seasons.

Of course, Duke also won two national titles in the last seven years, while Carolina’s top-ranked team of 2012 lost two starters in the post-season and in April Williams’ 13th Tar Heel squad fell seconds from sending the NCAA final against Villanova into overtime. McGrath commented about the sensitivity of opposing fans who must follow him and took offense at his brash tweets.

Personally, I like McGrath standing up for his team, which will have more experience than Duke. Fans go bonkers over the most recent five-stars but forget that Joel Berry and Isaiah Hicks were also the players of the year in their respective states and now have a combined five years of college basketball experience. McGrath was reminding people not to forget the Tar Heels, who won’t back down from anyone next season, least of all their arch rivals from Durham.

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