Kentucky players haven't gone into media like Duke and UNC alum have.
Duke UNC rivalry, general love affair, is about to go way of the dodo like a lot of "traditions" in sports.
Rivalries specifically, especially those limited to a region/state, or basically town, in this case aren't going to sell like they have in eras past.
All these big changes in college sports right now are about ratings, money, mass appeal, etc...
It's going to be about who's hot, interesting, entertaining, now...every few years it will change.
Also, there's more and more options in terms of who to watch. Old rivalries were big when they were about the only sports entertainment on a limited number of sports media.
ESPN came up right when Duke and UNC were hitting their stride...80s-90s...
Those two programs just happened into legendary coaches, and players at about the same time and it coincided with the birth and formative years of a media dedicated specifically to sports.
Those two programs have seen their best days, best coaches, best players. The worldwide has grown, the landscape of college sports has changed. There are more stories, things to sell and consume.
Not a knock on Duke/UNC. That goes for a lot of old hot ticket items. Alabama/Texas is a good example right now. Huge numbers. I and most other casual football fans will take that game over Bama/Auburn or Bama/Tenn/Florida etc...
The new big 10 match ups coming...are going to be big time. Michigan/USC is going to be more appealing to a bigger audience than pretty much any old Big10 rivalry except OSU...but it wouldn't surprise me if the ratings beat that via west coast eyes.
Iowa women's basketball and LSU are hot right now and a bigger rivalry that can get massive numbers. If those two come across one another in the big dance, it will get ratings that beat out a lot of men's rivalries and match ups in general.
