How to watch Carolina-Duke football. Or is it, Duke-Carolina? Depends on who you ask

North Carolina coach Mack Brown was discussing this week’s football game against Duke when a reference was made to him mentioning the “Duke-Carolina” game.

“No, I mentioned Carolina-Duke,” Brown said.

Call it a matter of semantics, call it a touch of humor, but Brown also was reinforcing the fact that the No. 24 Tar Heels should be mentioned first when it comes to this rivalry game.

That’s the mindset, at least, in Chapel Hill.

The Heels (7-2, 3-2 ACC) have the Victory Bell, given each year to the winner of the Carolina-Duke/Duke-Carolina game. It’s tucked away in the Kenan Football Center, where it has been stored the past four years and available to the players.

“It sits in the hall out front and it’s a little bit obnoxious when everybody’s ringing it all the time,” quarterback Drake Maye said this week, smiling. “I give it a little ring, but I think it’s more fun when guys are carrying it off the field and sitting on it. It’s pretty cool.”

Senior linebacker Cedric Gray, who has been a part of the past three wins, wants to leave UNC with another and keep on ringing and sitting on the Bell. To him, it’s not a friendly rivalry.

“Maybe some guys know guys and are cool with it, but I don’t care if that whole (Duke) team was my friend,” he said. “When the whistle is blown, when the lights cut on, when the clock starts, it ain’t no friends out that. We’re both trying to go out there and beat the heck out of each other

“So that’s the mindset.”

That applies to Duke, as well. The Blue Devils (6-3, 3-2) don’t mind a physical game and will be seeking to atone for a tough 38-35 loss to UNC in Durham a year ago in coach Mike Elko’s introduction to the rivalry. Duke rushed for 297 yards and passed for 245 but it wasn’t enough to win as Maye threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns.

Maye’s 8-yard scoring pass to Antoine Green with 16 seconds left won it for the Heels. Green barely keeping his left foot in the right side of the end zone. UNC then picked off a Riley Leonard pass in the final moments to seal it.

“That was one of my favorite games from last year, one of my favorite moments,” Maye said this week. “It was definitely a confidence builder.”

Leonard is not expected to play Saturday as he works his way through injuries. Freshman Grayson Loftis, who took over in the win against Wake Forest last week, should make a second consecutive start.

Maye likely will be playing his last home game at Kenan Stadium, even if he says he’s keeping his options open for now about leaving after this season for the NFL.

“It was my dream of playing quarterback here, and just living that out and all the great memories here and the special games, the special moments., if it is my last one I’ll just put it out there one last time for the Heels at home in Kenan,” Maye said. “It’s got me tearing up, thinking about it.”

Brown, in his second coaching run at UNC, is 4-0 against Duke, and said the first of the four is among the most memorable of the 14 Carolina-Duke games he has been a part of in two stints in Chapel Hill.

In October 2019, the Heels won 20-17 at Kenan Stadium when linebacker Chazz Surratt picked off Deon Jackson’s attempted jump pass at the goal line, clinching a victory with 14 seconds left.

But there also was the 1992 Duke game, a few months after Brown’s marriage to his wife, Sally. Various bowl scenarios were being discussed and the Tar Heels were solidly in the mix for their first bowl appearance with Brown as the coach.

“They said if you lose to Duke you’ll play in Hawaii in the Hula Bowl and if you beat Duke you’ll go play in the Peach Bowl,” Brown said, smiling. “Sally, not being a football fan, came to me and said, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ I hope we lose. We get to go to Hawaii.’ And I said, ‘No, Sweetie, that’s not the way this works.’”

Carolina won 31-28 in Durham. The Heels went to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, beating Mississippi State 21-17 to cap a 9-3 season.

How to watch UNC vs Duke

The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network as Wes Durham handles the play by play. It can be viewed on Spectrum cable, on satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network.

It can be streamed on DIRECTV Stream, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and fuboTV.

Updated betting odds

UNC is being called a 14.5-point favorite by ESPN and the over/under set at 50.5 points. ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) has UNC at 62.9% chance to win.

lt can be viewed on Spectrum cable, on satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network and streamed on DIRECTV Stream, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and fuboTV.

North Carolina (7-2, 3-2 ACC) vs Duke (6-3, 3-2)

When: Saturday, 8 p.m.

Where: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill.

TV: ACC Network.