The Duke Blue Devils went from punching their ticket to the Final Four to booking plane tickets home to Durham in the span of 10 seconds against UConn. After leading by as much as 19 points, Duke allowed UConn back into the game and allowed it all to come down to a turnover and a shot that defined its season.
It seemed well in hand for the Blue Devils, but the Huskies continued to chip away at Duke's lead. With a head coach like Dan Hurley, it never seemed like the Huskies were out of it, and it ended up being freshman Braylon Mullins who hit the game-winner for UConn.
Duke now joins the ranks of teams who blew big leads late in big games, a group they never wanted to join, but where do they rank exactly?
Where does Duke rank amongst great sports teams to blow a lead in the big game?
There are many teams that have blown major leads in the big games. One of the first that comes to mind is the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots. The Falcons blew a 28-3 lead in the fourth quarter of the game, going down as one of the biggest blown leads in all of sports.
Another team that comes to mind is the Golden State Warriors, who in 2016 were facing LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals series, but went on to lose three straight games to give Cleveland its first-ever NBA title.
While the Blue Devils may not have been in the National Championship game, where it is win or go home for both teams, this loss in the Elite Eight feels like it ranks pretty high amongst these other teams. With how big a lead Duke had and the talent of their roster, it feels like a bit of a waste, especially a waste of star Cameron Boozer's freshman season.
Duke is not used to losing like this, especially with the program's history of winning. Some are wondering if Jon Scheyer will be able to get the Blue Devils to that point of success again.