For 50 years, the rivalry between Duke and Carolina has featured famous brawls, endless controversy, long-nurtured hatred -- and some of the best basketball ever played in the history of the sport.

The Duke-Carolina rivalry has fostered more than 30 former players from the two schools playing or coaching in the NBA; it has cultivated a maniacal subculture of fans who camp out for weeks just to get tickets to the seasonal matches; it has enchanted a nation of spectators to watch games between the archrivals, garnering some of the highest regular-season TV ratings in history.

Art Chansky's "Blue Blood: Duke-Carolina: Inside the Most Storied Rivalry in College Hoops" is a chronicle of the Duke-Carolina fight as it has evolved over the last 50 years -- celebrating the rivalry's history, traditions, heritage, and, most importantly -- the spectacular basketball.

In this episode of UNC-TV's local literary series, "North Carolina Bookwatch," premiering Friday, Oct. 6, at 9:30 p.m., Art Chansky shares the "how" and "why" behind the colorful, revered, and respected rivalry, detailed in his latest work.

"Opposites attract. Duke and Carolina are only eight miles apart, but they have so many contrasting elements, making the thing very combustible when it comes to basketball," says Chansky. "You've got the private school and the public school; you've got the small student body and the big student body; you've got most kids from outside North Carolina versus most kids being from inside North Carolina; there's the begrudging mutual respect; and then the common denominator is great basketball over 30 and 40 years, keeping both programs in the spotlight."

The veteran journalist and author has seen every Duke-Carolina game since 1968 and now gives audiences the never-before-told story behind the story of a sporting challenge that has polarized the nation.

"There's a chance that this rivalry could be greater than ever," says Chansky. "Now you have Mike Krzyzewski, who is really the Dean Smith of his era and Roy Williams, who is trained by Dean Smith, at his alma mater; both are great recruiters; both are now coaching Top 10 programs; they are so far above the rest in the publicity they get; I think anybody will want to play at Duke or North Carolinaand the programs will continue to ascend."

Art Chansky is the author of three books on basketball, including "The Dean's List," "Dean's Domain," and "March To The Top." His work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times, the official NCAA Tournament program, and alumni magazines of both Duke and UNC. He has also been featured on ESPN and CNN/SI specials on the Duke-Carolina rivalry.

An encore episode airs Friday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m.

For more information about additional series guests and airdates, plus the all-new Bookwatch blog and online book club, www.unctv.org/ncbookwatch.

Funding for North Carolina Bookwatch is provided by UNC-TV members and by Quail Ridge Books and Music, Raleigh's independent, full service bookstore, bringing readers and writers together since 1984.

"North Carolina Bookwatch" is part of UNC-TV's ongoing commitment to produce programs for and about North Carolina. UNC-TV is the statewide 11-station broadcast network of the University of North Carolina.