How the “Big Four Tournament” and recruitment of David Thompson changed North Carolina rivalry dynamics forever
Here's a mental exercise — imagine North Carolina, NC State, Duke and Wake Forest fans all chanting "ACC!” Not sarcastically, which is how folks do it today in reaction to SEC fans who pull for teams that aren't Alabama. No, actual pride in the "Big Four" and pulling for your rival to win against an outsider. Turns out you don't have to imagine it because that's how it used to be back in the 1950s and 1960s. So what changed? The Big Four Tournament, which came about a decade following the aftermath of the Dixie Classic, and the recruitment of David Thompson. Caulton Tudor, longtime columnist who covered 35 ACC basketball tournaments and 24 NCAA Final Fours, gave his unique perspective on how the rivalry dynamics developed in a conversation from 2014 with Joe Ovies.
