Duke and UConn, unmatched for the past 35 years, prepare for another March Madness collision

Duke and UConn, unmatched for the past 35 years, prepare for another March Madness collision Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup between UConn and Duke feels a little early By NOAH TRISTER AP sports writer March 28, 2026, 5:33 PM WASHINGTON -- Believe it or not, there was a time when Duke and UConn were still trying to ascend to college basketball's summit. Neither had won a national title when they met in a regional final in 1990, with the Blue Devils prevailing on the slightly less famous of Christian Laettner's two March Madness buzzer-beaters. Since then, UConn has six championships and Duke five. No other school has more than four in that span. No wonder Sunday's Elite Eight matchup between the Huskies and Blue Devils feels a little early. This year, the Final Four only has room for one of them. “Obviously they’re both world-class institutions, but basketball is critically important,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said Saturday. “Since the ’90s, UConn and Duke have been the two best college basketball programs on the men’s side in the last 30 years. So it’s a pretty cool matchup.” Duke and UConn first met in the NCAA Tournament back in 1964 — a 47-point win that sent the Blue Devils to the Final Four — but it was the 1990 clash that foreshadowed what this rivalry would become. Duke won that one, then eliminated the Huskies again in the 1991 Sweet 16. UConn eventually broke through. In fact, Mike Krzyzewski probably wins two more national championships if not for the Huskies. His 1999 Duke team was loaded but lost in the title game to UConn in a battle of No. 1 seeds — the result surprising enough that Huskies guard Khalid El-Amin's first reaction was to shout “We shocked the world!” loud enough to be heard on the broadcast. Five years later, UConn topped Duke in what was technically a semifinal, but they were the two best teams remaining. The Blue Devils blew an eight-point lead in the final three minutes. UConn's victory over Georgia Tech in the actual title game was anticl...