The varsity basketball programs at the College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are close to reaching a formal agreement to play a home-and-home series in the next two years.
After ongoing discussions for the past few months, Coach Dave Faucher said the two sides have reached a verbal agreement, although a formal agreement has not yet been reached since contracts have not been signed.
If the agreement is finalized, the Big Green would travel to the historic "Dean Dome" in North Carolina to play the Tarheels this Dec. 17.
The Tarheels would return the favor by traveling to Hanover to play the Big Green at Leede Arena on a date still to be determined during the 1996-97 basketball season.
College Athletic Director Dick Jaeger said the agreement looks promising and final details could be worked out within the next few days.
"All parties seem interested in making it work," Jaeger said.
Jaeger said North Carolina was probably interested in the home-and-home series because "they like to be adventurous and get out on the road to try different parts of the country."
Jaeger said the Dartmouth hoops team is eager to play a premier college program like the Tarheels to see how well it could do.
He noted the Ivy League champion women's varsity basketball team went to the NCAA tournament in March and almost shocked the powerful Virginia Lady Cavaliers. The Lady Big Green lost 71-68 in the first round of the tournament.
Faucher said the prospects of North Carolina coming to play the Big Green in Hanover in 1996-97 was a pleasant change of pace from the way scheduling is normally handled among the top teams in college basketball.
According to Faucher, usually a premier team pays a lower-level team "guarantee money" as incentive for the lower-level team to play in the top team's home arena.
"They have a real reluctance to play lower-ranked teams away from home," Faucher said.
But if the verbal agreement becomes a formal contract, North Carolina will do just that -- play the much lower-ranked Big Green in an away game in 1996-97.
Jaeger said the Big Green "would love to take a shot at North Carolina."
The strength of the Tarheels basketball program speaks for itself. Other than the Kentucky Wildcats, North Carolina is the winningest program in the history of college basketball.
Because of its historic reputation -- not to mention the influence of North Carolina Coach Dean Smith -- the Tarheels have maintained one of the best programs in college basketball in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Tarheels won the national championship in 1993 and made the Final Four this year.
But win or lose, a matchup with North Carolina would earn some much-deserved prestige and respect for the Big Green varsity basketball program.
And that is what sports is all about -- prestige and respect.
