Duke’s Justise Winslow goes to the basket against Gonzaga’s Kyle Dranginis during the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. (Getty)
Duke is in its first Final Four since 2010. That year, the Blue Devils went on to defeat Butler, 61-59, to win the National Championship.
And since then, the program has had its fair share of ups and downs – struggling to get past the round of 64 and 32 with the most stunning being last year’s early tournament dismissal.
But the Blue Devils bounced back this season to show dominance once again. Duke has the nation’s top high school recruit and NBA Draft pick in 6-foot-11 center Jahlil Okafor, and the NCAA’s winningest coach of all time in Mike Krzyzewski – aka Coach K.
Although Duke didn’t win the ACC Tournament Championship, the Blue Devils received a selection committee bid to join the dance floor as the No. 1 seed in the South region and have since routed No. 16 Robert Morris, No. 8 San Diego State, No. 5 Utah and No. 2 Gonzaga to advance to the Final Four.
And now the question remaining is, will they be able to add another national championship to their resume?
Here is a list of all of Duke’s NCAA Tournament accomplishments:
NCAA Tournament Appearances:
39
Years: 1955, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Sweet 16 Appearances:
28
Years: 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015
Elite Eight Appearances:
20
Years: 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2015
Final Four Appearances:
16
Years: 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010, 2015
NCAA Tournament Runner-Up:
6
Years: 1964, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1999
NCAA Tournament National Champions:
4
Years: 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010
Over the years Duke has become a powerhouse name in regards to college hoops in both the ACC and on a national level. This is thanks in large part to Coach K, 68, who took the helm in 1980, and has since reached many milestones with the Blue Devils.
All four of the program’s national championship titles have come under the direction of Krzyzewski – and, as mentioned, he became the first NCAA Division I men’s basketball coach to reach 1,000 wins when the Blue Devils routed St. John’s, 77-68, on January 25.
Duke has the fourth-highest number of all-time wins of any NCAA men’s basketball program, and has an NCAA-best 75.0 percent NCAA tournament winning percentage. The Blue Devils also finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll seven times and their 121 weeks ranked No. 1 in the nation by the AP puts them second of all-time – UCLA is the only team with more.
Duke is also second in the longest AP Top 25 streak with 200 consecutive appearances from 1996 to 2007. Again, UCLA is the only team better as the Bruins notched 221 consecutive polls from 1966 to 1980.
In the ACC, Duke has 19 ACC regular season titles and holds the record for conference tournament championships – 19. Before the ACC, Duke won the Southern Conference championships five times.
