When UNC and Duke play on Sunday 1st place in the ACC is not on the line, at least not in its entirety. I keep hearing folks in the media say this game will decide the ACC Regular Season Champion. That is only partially true. UNC has already clinched at least half of the mythical prize. The best Duke can do is clinch the other half. What's more, a Duke win does not even guarantee the Devils a #1 seed in the ACC Tournament. They need a Wake Forest win over Clemson in concert with a UNC loss to make that happen. It true this game could impact who gets a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament but the ACC Tournament will also have bearing on that as well. Beyond that, the notion that this game is like the one last season where both teams had two losses so the winner got the girl and the loser went home empty handed is hyping something that is not quite there.
That being said, it is UNC vs Duke and both teams are ranked in the top ten so it has plenty of hype without even considering the ACC/NCAA fallout.