Originally Posted by
HereBeforeCoachK
...ironic, since I think Coach K won something like his first 7 Elite 8 games...I'm sure someone on here knows exactly...
Well, it was part of the FF run from 1986 to 1994 -- seven Elite Eight wins in nine years. We lost to Bobby Knight's eventual national champion in 1987 and to Cal in the round of 32 in 2003.
The first Elite Eight we lost in the K era was to Kentucky in 1998, after we had a large lead.
Earlier Elite Eight losses were to NYU in our surprise run in 1960 and Purdue in 1980, in Gminski's last game.
More recent losses are the 2013 game against Louisville -- the game with the Kevin Ware broken leg; the 2018 inexplicable loss to Kansas -- three-point lead and the ball with less than a minute in regulation; last year's close loss to Michigan State.
Uhhh... K's Elite Eight record is 12-4. Not bad, but what have you done for us lately? Just kidding.
We actually have had more problem with Sweet Sixteen games. We have won 16 (duh! 12 + 4). And we have lost nine, including four out of five between 2002 (ugh) and 2006 (JJ's final game).
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013