Jim: you've been doing this even longer than I, but in 50 years, I know there have been seasons where even you did not expect a Final Four. These young folk here may have never had that experience, but my stint at Duke, '77-'84, included what is still my favorite season of all, the '82-'83 team. Coming off the previous 10-17 record, there were
no FF expectations. And, the 11-17 record in K's third year met those low expectations. But the silver lining was that I could revel in every win, but also walk away from a loss without the subsequent days of depression and angst that I now suffer with our outsized expectations.
Even when we were getting destroyed, like by UVa at the ACCT, you could still enjoy watching Danny Meagher dunk, or Mike Tissaw mow down an opposing player. Or Johnny Dawkins do everything. Kind of a life lesson: treasure the victories and don't take the losses too seriously. So, rest easy all, even if we hit a post-K stretch where we don't contend every year for a Natty, there is still much joy to be found in watching Duke basketball