The Duke Blue Devils' road to Gainesville, Fla., was paved a long time ago but there was one bump head coach Jamie Ashworth and his No. 4 ranked club had hoped they wouldn't hit for a while.
In 21 tries, Duke has defeated Florida once, or to put it another way, exactly one third the number of times the Gators have won the national title in the past 10 seasons.
Twice this season the two have met; twice Duke has lead, and twice this season Duke has lost. So as the Blue Devils stare down the No. 1 ranked Gators as their likely Final Four opponent, you can forgive them if they complain about this year's bracketing.
But following the Gators' loss, which snapped a 44-game win streak, Florida no longer appears quite as invulnerable as it once did.
And if the Blue Devils are playing with their eyes squarely set on Gainesville, they haven't shown it.
The Blue Devils needed no drama in the desert to advance to its 9th straight sweet 16, sweeping through both of its opponents in the Albuquerque, N.M. regional.
After a three-week layoff, the Blue Devils were a little out of synch in their opening round shutout of Oral Roberts, but all problems were resolved in time for a second round shutout.
Now Duke's attention is squarely on Iowa, one of a group of three teams (including South Alabama, who knocked of perennial power UCLA) who upset their way into the sweet 16.
Iowa upended No. 12 Notre Dame, a team Duke defeated earlier this season.
"It will be a difficult road," Ashworth said Monday, "but our team is really coming together at the right time."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.