The Duke Blue Devils were on their way to the 2026 Final Four as the favorite. While Michigan and Arizona are set to beat each other up in Saturday’s national semifinal round, Duke was about to get to Indianapolis as the huge favorite versus Illinois. The path was there for the Blue Devils to win their first national championship since 2015. They led UConn by 19 points midway through Sunday’s East Regional final. Part of what was going to be satisfying for Duke was not just a win over fellow blue-blood UConn, but being able to erase the memory of last year’s nightmarish Final Four collapse over Houston.

Duke-Houston 2025 Final Four

Remember this collapse? Duke led by double digits for most of the second half, by nine points with two minutes left, by six with 35 seconds left … and still lost. It was nearly impossible to lose that game, but Duke found a way despite being the favorite to win it all. Surely Duke was not going to lose in an even worse fashion. How could it possibly do that? Yet, Sunday against UConn just might have reached that lower standard.

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Duke blowing leads

This is the crazy thing about Duke under Jon Scheyer: When it loses, it loses by blowing a big lead. Duke blew a 17-point lead and lost to Texas Tech. It blew a 13-point lead in a loss to North Carolina. Duke losing only by blowing leads is positively mind-blowing … and lead-blowing.

Unreal fact

Duke and North Carolina both blew 19-point leads in this NCAA Tournament and lost. That’s one-in-a-trillion odds right there.

UConn and Dan Hurley

Dan Hurley is now 17-1 in the NCAA Tournament after this win.

UConn being ridiculous

UConn is the ultimate closer in college basketball. When the Huskies get into the second weekend, they make the Final Four. It’s what they do. The last Elite Eight game UConn failed to win: 2006 against George Mason. The Huskies haven’t lost since in that round or in the Sweet 16.

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Duke versus UConn

Let’s get back to Duke. The Blue Devils not only choked against Houston last year; this was not the first time they have choked against UConn in a huge game. In the 2004 Final Four semifinals in San Antonio, Duke led by eight points with under three minutes left. A 12-0 UConn run helped the Huskies shock Coach K, 79-78. It’s not the first time Duke has folded against UConn in a high-stakes tournament battle.

Cayden Boozer’s blunder

This is a blunder on par with Chris Webber’s timeout for Michigan in 1993 against North Carolina in the national championship game. There were 10 seconds on the clock when Duke inbounded the ball, leading by two. There was no 10-second violation. Boozer had the ball with close to five seconds left. He just had to hold the ball, get fouled, and make free throws. Even if he missed the free throw, UConn would have had only a handful of seconds to get the rebound and go the length of the court. Boozer just had to hold the ball. He didn’t. It was the ultimate giveaway.

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Duke paralysis

Duke got sucked into a repetitive pattern down the stretch. A ballhandler would dribble to the right wing, near the elbow, and lose the ball. The Blue Devils stopped passing the ball and played as though trying to run out the clock. They paid the price.

UConn chasing history

UConn now has a chance to win three titles in four years at the Final Four. UConn would win a seventh national title if it cuts down the nets one week from now. Only UCLA and Kentucky have more national championships.

Duke drought

Duke hasn’t won the national title or played in the national title game since 2015. The drought extends to 12 years for the Blue Devils, who have arguably had the best team each of the past two seasons and have fallen short.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Duke basketball chokes vs UConn, recalling past epic collapses