 North Carolina State and Wake Forest are also considered major rivals of the Blue Devils and Tar Heels, for more on the four-way rivalry see Tobacco Road.Other major college teams in the state include the Appalachian State Mountaineers, Charlotte 49ers, Davidson Wildcats, East Carolina Pirates, UNC Asheville Bulldogs, UNC Greensboro Spartans, and UNC Wilmington Seahawks.Although North Carolina did not have a major-league professional sports franchise until the 1980s, the state has long been known as a hotbed of college basketball.