North Carolina–NC State rivalry


The North Carolina–NC State rivalry, also known as the State-Carolina game, Carolina–State Game, North Carolina–NC State game, NCSU–UNC game, and other similar permutations, is an ongoing series of athletic competitions between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels and North Carolina State University Wolfpack. The intensity of the game is driven by the universities' similar sizes, the fact the schools are separated by only 25 miles, and the large number of alumni that live within the state's borders. Both are charter members of the Atlantic Coast Conference and are part of the Tobacco Road schools. The most popular games between the two are in football, basketball, and baseball.
In football, the rivalry game is played at the end of each season during Thanksgiving week. As the ACC has moved to a new scheduling system with protected rivalries, North Carolina and NC State are matched up as permanent rivals so as to allow both schools to face each other annually. Formerly, NC State was in the conference's Atlantic Division and North Carolina was in the Coastal Division and were designated as cross-over rivals that played on a yearly basis. The annual game between both schools is the fiercest football rivalry game in the state of North Carolina.NC State has won the last 5 games in the series, winning the latest contest by a score of 42-19. Current NC State head coach, Dave Doeren, is 9-4 against Carolina, including a 5-1 record in Chapel Hill.
Both schools are also known for their basketball history. They have won eight national championships between them, and 29 ACC Tournaments. North Carolina and NC State are 2 of the 15 college programs that can claim multiple national titles in men's college basketball.
In recent years, some Tar Heel basketball players and fans have claimed that the Wolfpack are not their main rivals in basketball due to the Tar Heels' recent dominance, saying that UNC's top basketball rivalry is the Duke–North Carolina rivalry. However, proponents of the rivalry cite former UNC basketball coach Roy Williams' documented animosity towards NC State and former UNC player Tyler Hansbrough's assertion that his dislike for NC State was greater than his dislike for Duke. Furthermore, many members of the Wolfpack point to the events of the 2024 ACC Tournament, which concluded with NC State upsetting the top-seeded Tar Heels in the championship game, as evidence for the rivalry's legitimacy.
The ACC has split the two in baseball so that the two schools did not meet in the 2014 regular season; the result of that split was the ACC reinstating permanent partners for baseball in 2015. In the interim, the two schools agreed to a nonconference neutral-site game in Durham. NC State and North Carolina faced off in a 3 game series in Raleigh during the 2024 season, with State winning 2 out of the 3 games to win the series.

Football all-time series records

All-Time Series Records

Listed by number of games won.
  • Current streak: 5 – NC State won in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
  • All-time record: North Carolina: 68; NC State: 41; Ties: 6
  • Record in ACC : North Carolina: 37; NC State: 36
  • Record since 2000: NC State: 17; North Carolina: 9
  • Record in Kenan Memorial Stadium: North Carolina: 28; NC State: 20; Ties: 1
  • Record in Carter–Finley Stadium North Carolina: 15; NC State: 14
  • Record in Chapel Hill, NC: North Carolina leads 36–23–2
  • Record in Charlotte, NC: North Carolina leads 2–0
  • Record in Raleigh, NC: North Carolina leads 31–18–4

Largest victory margins

Listed by score.
  • NC State's largest victory margin: 45 points, score: 48–3
  • North Carolina's largest victory margin: 44 points, score: 44–0

Conference Championships

  • NC State 11
  • North Carolina 9

Bowl Record

  • NC State 18–18–1
  • North Carolina 15–22

All-Time records

  • North Carolina 738–577–54
  • NC State 652–611–55

Men's basketball all-time series records

''Listed by number of games won.''

All-time series record

  • North Carolina: 168; NC State: 81

Longest Win Streaks

  • NC State: 15; North Carolina: 13

By location

  • In Chapel Hill: North Carolina: 83; NC State: 21
  • *At Woollen Gymnasium: North Carolina: 34; NC State: 12
  • *At Carmichael Auditorium: North Carolina 18; NC State: 2
  • *At Smith Center: North Carolina: 31; NC State: 7
  • In Raleigh: North Carolina: 68; NC State: 50
  • *At Thompson Gymnasium: North Carolina: 20; NC State: 13
  • *At Reynolds Coliseum: North Carolina: 28; NC State: 31
  • *At ESA/RBC/PNC/LC: North Carolina: 20; NC State: 6
  • At neutral site: North Carolina: 16; NC State: 10

By Titles

By Final Four appearances

  • North Carolina: 21; NC State: 4

By coach

North Carolina coaches

NC State coaches

Other

Listed by score.
  • North Carolina's largest victory margin: 107–56
  • NC State's largest victory margin: 79–39

Scores of games (1913–Present)

Winning team is shown in bold. Ranking of the team at the time of the game by the AP poll is shown in parentheses next to the team name.

Women's basketball all-time series records

''Listed by number of games won.''

All-time series record

  • NC State: 65; UNC: 56

Longest Win Streaks

  • NC State: 19; UNC: 8

By location

By Titles

  • NCAA Championships: NC State: 0; UNC: 1
  • NCAA Final Fours: NC State: 2; UNC: 3
  • ACC Tournament: NC State: 7; UNC: 9
  • ACC Regular Season: NC State: 7; UNC: 4

By coach

NC State coaches

UNC coaches

Other

Listed by score.
  • NC State's largest victory margin: 89-58
  • UNC's largest victory margin: 85-51

Baseball all-time series records

All-time series record

  • North Carolina: 168; NC State: 135; Ties: 1
  • As of May, 2019

ACC regular season championships

  • North Carolina: 13
  • NC State: 4

ACC Tournament championships

  • North Carolina: 8
  • NC State: 4

College World Series appearances

  • North Carolina: 12
  • NC State: 4

College World Series victories

  • North Carolina: 16
  • NC State: 5

NCAA championship game/series appearances

  • North Carolina: 2
  • NC State: 0

Men's soccer all-time series records

All-time series record (1950-Present)

  • North Carolina: 52; NC State: 22; Ties: 13
  • As of February, 2024

ACC regular season championships

  • North Carolina: 4
  • NC State: 1

ACC tournament championships

  • North Carolina: 3
  • NC State: 1

College Cup appearances

  • North Carolina: 8
  • NC State: 2

NCAA championships

  • North Carolina: 2
  • NC State: 0

Wrestling all-time series records

All-time series record (1955-present)

Source:
  • NC State: 52; UNC: 51; Ties: 2
*

ACC Championships

  • NC State: 21
  • *
  • UNC: 17
  • *

All-Americans

  • NC State: 30
  • *
  • UNC: 23
  • *

NCAA Champions (individual)

NCAA Championships (team)

  • NC State: 0
  • UNC: 0

Gymnastics all-time series records

Series record (1981-present)

Source:
  • NC State: 82; UNC: 52; Ties: 1
*

Conference Championships

Source:
  • NC State: 8
  • * ACC: 2
  • * EAGL: 6
  • UNC: 5
  • * ACC: 0
  • * EAGL: 5

NCAA Champions (individual)

  • NC State: 0
  • UNC: 1

NCAA Championships (team)

  • Semi-Finalists
  • * NC State: 1
  • * UNC: 0
  • Finalists
  • * NC State: 0
  • * UNC: 0
  • Champions
  • * NC State: 0
  • * UNC: 0