Blue Devil Country

Duke Basketball Breaks Tie With Rival for One NCAA Tournament Record

No other program matches Duke basketball in all-time wins over No. 1 seeds.

Matt Giles

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer
Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
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Duke basketball's 54-51 win over No. 1 seed Houston in Dallas' American Airlines Center on Friday night felt like a late-1980s Blue Devil feat. That makes sense, given that's the time period they thrived in knocking off top dogs, often in their region to ignite a stretch of Final Four appearances galore, thereby cementing the program's status as an annual March Madness threat under Mike Krzyzewski.

However, Friday night marked the first time a No. 4 seed Duke team, the lowest seed to achieve the feat in program history, defeated a No. 1 seed since the Blue Devils' first win over a No. 1 seed in 1980, the year after the NCAA began fully seeding teams. That was a 55-51 win over Kentucky in Lexington — oddly enough, an almost identical score to the Duke-Houston game — in the final season of Bill Foster's tenure as head coach to advance to the Elite Eight.

Six years later, No. 1 seed Duke beat No. 1 seed Kansas in the Final Four. In 1988 and 1989, No. 2 seed Blue Devil squads upset No. 1 seeds Temple and Georgetown, respectively, to advance to the Final Four. Thanks to Christian Laettner's heroics one year later, No. 3 seed Duke prevailed over No. 1 seed UConn, again reaching a Final Four.

Then, in the 1991 Final Four, marking the program's all-time most important win leading up to its first of now-five national titles, No. 2 seed Duke snapped No. 1 seed UNLV's 45-game winning streak.

And a win over a No. 1 seed happened again in 1994, with Grant Hill leading the charge for the No. 2 seed Blue Devils in an Elite Eight showdown against Purdue and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson.

Since then, it's happened only twice: against fellow No. 1 seed Michigan State in the 1999 Final Four and fellow No. 1 seed Wisconsin in the 2015 title bout.

With the signature win over Houston, setting the stage for an Elite Eight battle against No. 11 seed NC State at 5:05 p.m. ET Sunday, second-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer is now 1-0 against No. 1 seeds. And the Blue Devils now own the outright record with 10 all-time victories over a No. 1 seed, breaking a tie with archrival UNC.

The Blue Devils have reached the Elite Eight in four of the past six Big Dances. Wave goodbye to the narrative that Duke routinely underperforms in March.

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI for more Duke basketball news.

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Matt Giles
MATT GILES

Matt Giles is the editor and publisher of Duke Blue Devils on SI, North Carolina Tar Heels on SI, and NC State Wolfpack on SI, making him a key source for comprehensive coverage of these storied college basketball programs. Since joining SI in 2022, Matt has been dedicated to providing in-depth analysis, breaking news, and exclusive content on all three teams. He covers everything from game previews and recaps to player profiles and recruiting updates. Matt's expert knowledge of these teams has made his work a go-to resource for fans and followers of Duke, NC State, and UNC. As publisher, he shapes the editorial direction, ensuring that the most relevant and timely information reaches his audience.

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