Tobacco Road

Tobacco Road refers to an historic tobacco-producing area of central North Carolina and is often used when referring to sports (particularly basketball) played among rival ACC universities which are located in close geographic proximity to each other in North Carolina. The phrase actually originated as the title of a novel set in Georgia, but it naturally migrated to North Carolina because of the state's primacy in tobacco production. Three of the schools (Duke, UNC, and NC State) are part of Research Triangle and are separated by no more than 25 miles (40 km), and Wake Forest lies about 100 miles (160 km) west of the other three. It was formerly much closer to the other three, having originally been located in the town of Wake Forest, North Carolina until 1956. All four are no more than 6 miles (9.7 km) from Interstate 40; the road has been called "Tobacco Road" in national sports media. (However, it must be noted that until the late 1980s—after tobacco had started to decline in North Carolina due to US federal anti-tobacco actions—I-40 did not reach Durham, Chapel Hill, or Raleigh. Rather, Tobacco Road would have been US Highway 70.) The proximity of these schools to one another and the membership of each school in the Atlantic Coast Conference have created a natural rivalry among students, fans, & alumni. North Carolina State University's Red and White Song mentions each of the four universities in its lyrics.