Tonight’s men’s basketball game in North Carolina between Maryland and Duke is predicted to be a major event on the campus, with thousands of students expected to flock to “Back to Cole” to see if the Terrapins can slay the (blue) devil incarnate.
Nearly 300 miles south in Durham, N.C., the Cameron Crazies are in their typical tizzy, but their fervor has not reached its zenith. Though the Blue Devils are reviled as public enemy No. 1 for Terp fans, students at Duke claim that to them, Maryland is what hors d’oeuvres are to an obese person — something to pass the time before the main event.
“I know Duke is basically the embodiment of evil in College Park, but there really isn’t any animosity on this side toward Maryland, its students or its teams,” Duke senior Stephen Rawson, who, as head line monitor, controls student admissions to basketball games, said in an e-mail. “The thing is, there are lots of teams that claim they have a rivalry with Duke, and perhaps for them, it is. But we really only have one rival, and that’s UNC.”
For 19 years Duke students have camped out for home games against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The tradition began when a few students set up tents on a Thursday night for a Saturday night UNC showdown.
These days, in the tent city tradition now known as Krzyzewskiville after Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, hundreds of students camp out for more than a month before the two best basketball games of the season.
During Maryland’s recent ascendance, the Terps were consistently the second opponent selected by the head line monitor (in addition to the mainstay of UNC), giving some Duke students the impression that Maryland was a legitimate rival, said Bryan Westbrook, Duke beat writer for the Durham Herald-Sun. This year, however, Wake Forest, the preseason No. 1 team, was selected.
The Duke-Wake Forest game is Feb. 20. The first tent for this year’s edition of K-Ville was pitched Dec. 31, 52 days before tipoff.
Duke sophomore Jeff Fisher moved into his six-week temporary housing Jan. 7. When asked if he’d rather sit at his computer for tickets, as Maryland students do, Fisher replied immediately: “Absolutely not.”
“It’s been incredible,” he said of his time living outdoors. “The amount of time people spend out there creates such a community atmosphere, such camaraderie. The players and coaches really appreciate it.”
Though Maryland isn’t a K-Ville game this year nor apparently a rival of Duke, the Cameron Crazies pledged to give a performance tonight befitting their reputation as some of the loudest fans in college basketball. Fisher also hinted at potential material to use against the Terps.
“Nik Caner-Medley is very well-loved around here with his comment about ‘I’m from Maryland and you can’t touch me,’” he said.
