ESPN viewers voted it one of the greatest rivalry in college sports, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone in the Triangle who doesn't have strong feelings about their favorite shade of blue. But what happens when the UNC-Duke University rivalry isn’t just between students or campuses, but across the dinner table — or even in the mirror?
Walker Burgin, a UNC first-year, said his family practically represented the Atlantic Coast Conference: his parents attended the University of Virginia and North Carolina State University, and his twin brother currently attends Duke.
This past summer, Burgin said he and his brother referred to each other as their school names.
"We were doing little jabs to each other," he said. "All over the summer."
He expects the rivalry to last much longer than his and his brother's four years at school.
“I know it’s going to be a lifelong rivalry, and we’re gonna always joke about it," Burgin said.
Elvin Liu, also a first-year, has a twin sister who attends the Durham-based school with a darker shade of blue. He acknowledges the situation is a bit uncanny.
“The impact of the rivalry goes beyond sports,” Liu said.
While Liu or Burgin may spar with their siblings at home, Sanjana Jha faces a more difficult task — reconciling the rivalry within herself.
