1-seed Duke is gearing up to take on 4-seed Arizona tonight for a chance to advance to the Elite Eight and end the collegiate career of Duke fans's most hated player, Caleb Love.
Love said earlier in the week that "we'll be ready" for Duke, following the Wildcats' 87-83 win over 5-seed Oregon in the Round of 32, a game that Love put up 29 points in.
And throughout the week, fans and analysts around college basketball can't help but remember what Love did to the Duke program when he was at UNC.
Former Tar Heel superstar and current analyst Tyler Hansbrough even went as far as to say UNC should hang Love's ARIZONA jersey in the rafters if the Wildcats can pull off a win tonight.
However, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd wants all of the Duke/UNC noise away from the game and wants Duke/Arizona to be the focus.
"We're not tying to make this a Duke/Carolina thing," Lloyd told John Fanta. "This is a Duke/Arizona thing. Whatever happened at Carolina, whatever?"
"I'm excited that Arizona's playing Duke in this setting and we got Caleb Love on our team," Lloyd later said.
"We're not trying to make this a Duke/Carolina thing. This is a Duke/Arizona thing. Whatever happened at Carolina, whatever?"
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) March 26, 2025
— Tommy Lloyd shared thoughts on Caleb Love to me, including how he’s fought through criticism. Great stuff here: pic.twitter.com/BwCyUFfwAI
Whether Lloyd wants to take UNC out of the equation or not, it's always going to be there. Duke has a chance to avenge the program tonight for what Love did to it in the 2022 Final Four. What better way of avenging the program and its fans by ending the college career of the player who ended Coach K's career in the NCAA Tournament.
Although, the Blue Devils will have a tall task in keeping Love in check, who's had a really solid NCAA Tournament and last few games altogether.
Through Love's last five games in the Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Tournament, he's averaging 19.2 points per game on 50% shooting from the field and 46.8% shooting from three-point range. The fifth-year senior is no stranger to big-time moments, and no matter how much Duke fans hate him, it's impossible to ignore that he's shown up time and time again in the spotlight.
Catch Duke as it tries to advance to the Elite Eight for the second straight season tonight at 9:39pm ET on CBS.