Win or lose vs. Duke, Arizona men's basketball has had a memorable season

If Arizona loses to Duke or even beats the Blue Devils but falls to Alabama or BYU, the disappointment would not erase all previous wins from the record books. If the Wildcats don’t make it to the dance’s final weekend, the wins and moments we all so thoroughly enjoyed will not be erased from our memories.
The Blue Devils are +220 to win the national title, per FanDuel Sportsbook, the top odds of any remaining team, while Arizona is +700 just to reach the Final Four.
Then again, the last time these teams met in the NCAA tournament was 2011, when a fifth-seeded Arizona knocked off Duke, a one seed, with a dominant and thoroughly enjoyable second half.
But hey, that’s how it goes. If Arizona’s fun season is to continue it will require the biggest win yet.
Arizona hit its stride and started winning games in a manner we were not used to, more with defense and grit than fast pace and dunks. Even without Caleb Love being great the Cats found ways to win games, beating some pretty good teams in the process.
Most foresee a repeat of that game.
Arizona vs. Duke for a spot in the Elite 8? Bring it on.
No.
It will not be easy, of course. Short of Duke playing its worst Arizona will need to be at its best. The Cats cannot afford to turn the ball over like they have or make the kind of mental mistakes that let Oregon back into last Sunday’s game. This is not to say a perfect game is needed, but victory Thursday night will most likely require one of Arizona’s best efforts of the season.
The truth is this was not supposed to be the team that got Arizona back to the promised land. Ranked 10th to begin the season, it didn’t need too much time to fall out of the top 25 completely. Losing Mo Krivas to injury only added to the idea that this team unfortunately just didn’t have it.
Until it did.
To that end the Wildcats had twice as many wins over the Sun Devils as they did postgame handshake lines with their in-state rival.
That’s the optimistic take. The other angle is that Duke can make the same general claim about growth and boasts the top ranking in analytics sites like KenPom.com and EvanMiya.com for a reason. Cooper Flagg is excellent and he’s surrounded by talent, size and experience. This team is the favorite for a reason.
That said, beating Duke would be a real treat.
The Cats did not provide that in the first meeting between these teams, though it is fair to point out that the team that takes the court Thursday is much different, from both a growth and lineup standpoint, than the one that lost to the Blue Devils earlier in the season. And if Love plays like he did against Oregon this one could very well get interesting.
It’s a matchup many of us expected when the brackets were set and one that most do not expect the Wildcats to win.
And that’s the point of sports, isn’t it? Winning championships is of course the goal we deservedly have for a program like Arizona basketball, but it should never be the requirement for us to enjoy what happens on the court. And no matter what happens Thursday, I will have been able to watch a season filled with enough highs to make it a good one.
That first conference road sweep over Cincinnati and West Virginia, both ranked at the time, was a taste of what the Cats could be. Home wins over Baylor and Texas Tech, also both ranked at the time, were delightful. The home victory over Iowa State that included Love’s heroics was as memorable as it will get, and it’s always satisfying beating ASU.
Is it an ideal matchup? Hardly. That the spread for this game is the highest of the round says more about Duke than it does Arizona, given that this is a Sweet 16 game between Top 25 teams.
Or, rather, as it has to be.
After all, the last time these teams met was earlier this season when Duke controlled the game on the way to a comfortable win in Tucson.
Arizona vs. Duke, as it should be.
But I digress.
We would love to see a repeat of that game.

SB Nation

But does it need to happen for this season to be considered a success? Does Arizona need to reach the Elite 8 or, could you imagine, the Final Four to feel good about what has been accomplished?
An Arizona team once left for dead knocking off the team that is widely viewed as the favorite (full disclosure I have Duke beating Arizona before winning it all in my bracket) would always be pleasant, but when it’s Duke? That’s something most of America can get behind.
Like last weekend’s exciting and much-closer-than-it-needed-to-be-late tournament win over Oregon. That one, and especially the Anthony Dell’Orso free throws that sealed it, won’t soon be forgotten.
For many Arizona fans, and I would argue too many, nothing that happens before the NCAA Tournament matters and failure to reach the Final Four means the season was more disappointing than not. To them I would argue that only four teams make it to the final weekend and not doing so does nothing to invalidate all that came before it.