Duke and North Carolina: Together again.

Sort of.

The Blue Devils and Tar Heels will begin play in the NCAA tournament Friday at Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena. But the old rivals, who played in Sunday's ACC tournament championship game in Greensboro, won't play each other next Sunday if they win their Friday games.

That's because of the NCAA's "pod" system, which places higher-seeded teams close to home. And Duke - the No.1 seed in the West - and North Carolina - No.2 in the East - are in different regions.

Duke will play 16th-seed Hampton after the day's first game between Michigan and Tennessee (which will begin at 12:40 p.m.). The Tar Heels will face No.15 Long Island at 7:15, followed by a game between Washington and Georgia.

Any chance of a Duke-North Carolina rematch can only come in the national semifinals April2 in Houston.

Still, Duke and North Carolina's games will be the highlight of Friday's games in Charlotte and Sunday - should they advance.

And will it get a little uncomfortable for Duke again, as it did in 2005, the last time the Blue Devils and Tar Heels both played in Charlotte?

Then, North Carolina fans outnumbered Duke fans by a substantial margin, and let the Blue Devils know it by booing them whenever they could. Tar Heels fans even encouraged fans from other schools to root against Duke.

Three other Carolinas teams also received bids to the tournament. Clemson gets a 12th seed and will play Alabama-Birmingham on Tuesday in one of four first-round games in Dayton, Ohio. UNC Asheville, a 16th seed which won the Big South championship, also will play Tuesday in Dayton against Arkansas-Little Rock.

And 14th seed Wofford, the Southern Conference champion, returns to the tournament for a second consecutive year, playing No.3 Brigham Young on Thursday in Denver.

Tennessee's most recent visit to Time Warner Cable Arena wasn't a pleasant one for the Volunteers. They lost to the Charlotte 49ers 49-48 in December. That game was just a few weeks before Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl was suspended for the Vols' first eight SEC games for violating NCAA rules and misleading investigators.

FRIDAY IN CHARLOTTE

West No. 8 Michigan vs. West No. 9 Tennessee, 12:40 p.m. (truTV)

West No. 1 Duke vs. West No. 16 Hampton, approx. 3:15 p.m. (truTV)

East No. 2 North Carolina vs. East No. 15 Long Island, 7:15 p.m. (CBS, Ch. 3)

East No. 7 Washington vs. East No. 10 Georgia, approx. 9:50 p.m. (CBS, Ch. 3)