College basketball insider takes shot at ESPN, Duke vs. UNC rivalry

The rivalry between North Carolina and Duke is considered perhaps the most storied in all of college basketball. But one college basketball insider is fed up with how often ESPN promotes it.

USA Today columnist Dan Wolken responded to a tweet after it was announced that College GameDay would be on campus for the contest the weekend in Chapel Hill between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils with ridicule.

“ESPN needs an intervention and a 12 step program at this point to let go of its addiction to this increasingly irrelevant game,” he said.

ESPN needs an intervention and a 12 step program at this point to let go of its addiction to this increasingly irrelevant game https://t.co/i4WTb920C0

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 1, 2025

It’s a bit difficult to understand where Wolken is coming from, as this is a a huge game for North Carolina (19-11, 12-6 ACC). The Tar Heels are among the “last four in” according to On3’s latest bracketology predictions.

That in mind, Saturday will play a massive role in their NCAA Tournament standing. Duke is currently projected as a No. 1 seed and getting a win against such a team would no doubt go a long way in convicing the committee to grant the Tar Heels a bid.

Moreover, the all-time series between Duke and North Carolina is fairly even with the Tar Heels holding an 85-67 all-time advantage. It’s certainly a game that will draw eyeballs to ESPN currently and historically, so Wolken has some explaining to do on his claim.

Tip-off between the Blue Devils and UNC is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Cooper Flagg injury update: Jon Scheyer reveals issue with Duke star’s eye

Cooper Flagg has to deal with a lot of punishment from opposing defenses. And we got another example of that on Saturday, when the freshman phenom got hit in the face a number of times. On the second time, Flagg had an issue with his eye that forced him to leave the game with more than 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Following Duke’s 100-65 blowout victory of the Seminoles, Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer offered some clarity on what exactly the issue with his star’s eye was.

“Yeah, well obviously, if Cooper stayed down. Something happened. Like, he doesn’t stay down on the ground. And fortunately, we have an amazing setup. Our medical team did a great job. Our eye doctor who handles everything with the team was here. Saw him right away. And fortunately, it wasn’t anything with his eye itself. It was his eyelid. You know, he got bruised, basically,” Scheyer explained.

“So, once we felt, obviously, we weren’t gonna risk anything. But once we saw it and felt very confident it wasn’t something that could get worse. Cooper tested, he had some vision issues in the first half, but then tested it out and he said he was gonna go. So, and he was, so he wasn’t lying,” Scheyer continued.

“He was good. And we’ll see the bruising tomorrow, of course. But he’s so tough. His mom’s yelling at him to rebound and defend if he’s going back in the game. So, I didn’t really have to say a whole lot. But I’m really glad he’s ok,” Scheyer finished.

On3′ Wade Peery contributed to this report.