Duke–Michigan basketball rivalry

Duke–Michigan basketball rivalry is a college basketball rivalry between the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball and Duke Blue Devils men's basketball teams representing the University of Michigan and Duke University, respectively. The two teams played annual, regularly-scheduled contests between 1963 and 1970 and between 1989 and 2002. They also scheduled meetings in 2007 and 2008. In addition, the teams have had five unscheduled meetings in tournaments, three of which were in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament including the 1992 National Championship Game.^[1][2] Two of the five tournament meetings occurred in 2011. Recently, the rivalry has been fueled by media commentary related to the ESPN Films documentary entitled The Fab Five. The latest edition of this rivalry occurred in the 2011 Maui Invitational Tournament, a game on November 22, which Duke won, 82–75.^[3]

Historical overview

Duke regards the rivalry as far less significant than the Carolina–Duke rivalry.^[4] The Duke–Michigan rivalry is fueled by the fact that both institutions strive to be premier academic institutions with solid reputations for producing scholars and student athletes rather than just athletic powerhouses.^[5] Duke and Michigan have played one another in men's basketball 29 times. The teams have played twice in the same season three times: 1963–64, 1991–92, and 2008–09. Michigan has played Duke more times than they have any other school outside of the state of Michigan that has never been a member of the Big Ten Conference. In turn, Duke's 29 games against Michigan are the most they have played any other school outside of the Maryland-Virginia-North Carolina-South Carolina region that has never been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Seven of the meetings between Duke and Michigan have featured opponents both ranked in the top ten in the AP Poll; five times both teams were ranked in the top five. Michigan has not faced any of its fellow conference members as many times with both participants so highly ranked.^[1][2]

The rivalry began on December 21, 1963 when the Cazzie Russell-led 1963–64 Wolverines hosted the Jeff Mullins-led 1963–64 Blue Devils at the Yost Fieldhouse, while winning 83–67. That Duke team avenged the game later in the season in the 1964 NCAA Final Four with a 91–80 victory. The teams met every December for the next seven seasons. The teams then went from December 7, 1970 and December 9, 1989 without playing.^[1][2][5]

Starting in 1989, the teams renewed their annual December rivalry games. The defending national champion Terry Mills/Rumeal Robinson/Loy Vaught-led 1989–90 Wolverines hosted the 1989–90 Blue Devils at Crisler Arena with a 113–108 overtime victory, which began annual December contests that continued until 2002. The Christian Laettner/Grant Hill/Bobby Hurley-led 1991–92 Blue Devils were defending national champions during the 1991 contest against the Fab Five-led 1991–92 Wolverines and won in overtime by a 88–85 margin. These teams held a rematch at the 1992 NCAA Final Four that Duke won by a 71–51 margin to repeat as national champions.^[1][2][5] During this run, Tommy Amaker served as an assistant to Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski until 1997 and then became Michigan Head coach of the 2001–02 Wolverines who lost 104–83 before the annual contests ended.^[1][2][6]

The teams scheduled December contests in both 2007 and 2008 and have also met in tournaments in 2008 and 2011.^[1][2] The unranked 2008–09 Wolverines completed a pair of back-to-back victories over top five opponents with an 81–73 victory over the 2008–09 Blue Devils, marking the first time Michigan had accomplished the feat. The game included 11 lead changes and 16 ties. The close contest allowed the fans to play a part as they forced Duke to use a time out to quiet the noisy crowd late in the second half.^[9]

On March 13, 2011, the ESPN Films' The Fab Five debuted as the highest-rated ESPN documentary of all time.^[10] The film spawned critical commentary in a broad spectrum of media outlets which include leading newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post; leading periodicals such as Forbes; online forums such as Slate; and leading news outlets such as MSNBC. In particular, the film sparked an exchange of words war between Jalen Rose and Duke University's Grant Hill through the media regarding issues of race in sports and education. Among those critical of the racial commentary was Duke player Grant Hill, who was cited in an Associated Press story that ran in major national media outlets.^[11] Hill blogged on The New York Times with a response naming a litany of Dukies castigated by Rose's general aspersions.^[12] His response was at the top of The New York Times' "most-emailed list" for several days and was shared on Facebook by nearly 100,000 people within its first few days.^[13] King responded to Hill in The Wall Street Journal, clarifying that his feelings about Duke were what he felt as a teenager and not representative of his current beliefs.^[14] Coincidentally, the following week, 2011 editions of Michigan and Duke met in the third round of the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.^[15] The press described this event as the renewal of the rivalry although people associated with both institutions downplayed the relevance of the film.^[16][17][18]

Although the schools do not share geographic proximity, which would induce frequent recruiting battles, there have been some high profile recruits that were heavily targeted by both institutions. Chris Webber, Michigan's Mr. Basketball in 1991 and the National High School player of the year, chose Michigan over Duke and eventually became the #1 pick in the 1993 NBA Draft after playing two seasons for the Wolverines.^[19] Duke returned the favor by gaining a commitment from Michigan-raised Shane Battier, the 1997 Mr. Basketball of Michigan, who led Duke's 2001 National Championship team, while sweeping all of the National Player of the Year awards.^[20] More recently, Michigan landed Mitch McGary, who had visited only Michigan, Duke and University of North Carolina.^[21]

Game results

Notes