There will be no homecoming for the Duke basketball team this year when they begin the trip to San Antonio for the Final Four this week with a much longer of a journey than their opponent, the Houston Cougars.
While the Blue Devils have one of the biggest fanbases in the country, the Alamodome is only a three-hour drive, 201 miles, from Houston’s campus. It is expected that the Cougars will have a large presence of fans for its second meeting against Duke in as many years.
The two programs met last season in the Sweet 16, a game in which Jon Scheyer’s team won but was marred by an early ankle injury to Jamal Shead. It was another matchup that was close for Houston, played in nearby Dallas, but its path to this Final Four was anything but easy.
Despite being the top seed in the Midwest, Houston had to play No. 4 Purdue in Indianapolis, just over an hour ride from the Boilermakers campus. Tennessee would await in the Elite 8, which is also a much closer to Lucas Oil Stadium than the Texas school.
“We just said two more road games,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said after the Cougars defeated the Volunteers on Sunday afternoon.
“That's awesome for Tennessee. Jump on the interstate and get here. That's what we'll do next week. We'll jump on the interstate and head down San Antonio.”
Duke had the advantage of the crowd in each of its NCAA Tournament games this season, playing the Round of 64 and Round of 32 in Raleigh, North Carolina and the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in Newark, New Jersey.
Each time the Blue Devils took the floor it mirrored Cameron Indoor Stadium, but that will not be the case next weekend.
“That's why you don't complain because it can flip the other way,” Sampson added.
Duke and Houston will have the late tipoff – approximately 30 minutes after Auburn vs. Florida – at 8:49 p.m. ET on Saturday night (CBS).