Tobacco Road

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Tobacco Road refers to the tobacco-producing area of North Carolina and is often used when referring to sports (particularly basketball) played among rival North Carolina universities.

The usual universities referred to by the moniker "Tobacco Road" are the following:

All of these schools are separated by no more than 25 miles from any of the others with the exception of Wake Forest, which lies an hour down Interstate 40 (the real-life "Tobacco Road"). 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 and alumni.

Wake Forest University used to be in Wake Forest, North Carolina, just a few miles north of Raleigh, until it moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, about 100 miles west of the Triangle. Since Wake Forest University is in North Carolina, a member of the ACC and still near the other three schools, Wake remains in the "Tobacco Road" group. These four universities are also known in the state as the "Big Four" and competed in the Dixie Classic tournament from 1949-1961 and the Big Four Tournament in Greensboro, N.C, from 1971-1981.

While North Carolina has many other universities and colleges, the "Tobacco Road" reference is exclusively reserved for the four that are members of the ACC.

The song Tobacco Road by John D. Loudermilk has been performed by a great number of artists (with slightly altered lyrics) including Spooky Tooth, David Lee Roth, The Nashville Teens, Aum, Lou Rawls, War featuring Eric Burdon, Tommy Cash, Jefferson Airplane, Blues Magoos, Blues Creation etc, and was recently featured in the finale of the 2006 season of the hit Fox TV show, American Idol.

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