Chaos is reigning on Tobacco Road.
But not in Durham.
As Duke readies for its Sweet 16 matchup against St. John's on Friday, rivals North Carolina and NC State are both coachless and staring at uncertain futures.
The Tar Heels fired Hubert Davis earlier this week, and on Thursday, NC State head coach Will Wade departed Raleigh after just one season on the bench to return to LSU, the program that fired him four years ago amid recruiting violations. Welcome to college basketball in 2026.
Duke and North Carolina were once on similar paths: Jon Scheyer and Hubert Davis were tasked with replacing legendary coaches in Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams, respectively. Scheyer has filled the shoes, and the Blue Devils haven't skipped a beat.
After a strong start, Davis folded under the pressure and only led North Carolina out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament once in the past four years.
Scheyer's ability to steady the waters and keep Duke near the top of the college basketball world is not given enough credit.
Jon Scheyer has provided Duke with stability that its rivals are missing
NC State thought that stability would come from hiring Wade, who was a proven winner at LSU and then McNeese State, but when you take the risk of hiring someone with questionable character, this is what you often get.
And now the Wolfpack are in the same coaching carousel as North Carolina.
The Tar Heels already swung and missed at their top candidate, but it seems obvious that they're ultimately going to hire a quality coach and be in a better position than they were with Davis, unfortunately.
As for NC State, Wade leaving for a middle-tier SEC job after just a single season in Raleigh isn't a good look, and calls into question the Wolf Pack's ability to win big in this era of college basketball, one fluky run to the Final Four notwithstanding.