Blue-blood battles galore: After UConn survived MSU's furious rally, a Duke showdown awaits with a Final Four bid on the line
The Huskies had to work for it against Tom Izzo's Spartans, but they held on. Now there's another juggernaut standing in their way.
WASHINGTON — Earlier this week, as he spoke to reporters here from Capital One Arena, a day before his team tangled with Duke in the Sweet 16, Rick Pitino caused a bit of a stir. “The blue bloods no longer control basketball,” he said. “There’s no such thing as a blue blood anymore,” he added later.
And just in case we didn’t catch it the first two times, Pitino again quipped before leaving the podium, “There are no more blue bloods and I think it’s great. ” Well, about that… A day after Pitino’s comments, Duke outlasted his St. John’s team and UConn survived against Michigan State to deliver an East region final on Sunday evening pitting two of the sport’s most recent dominant basketball powers in the country.
Are they blue bloods? Perhaps the bluest of the blue bloods over the last three decades. The Blue Devils, the Huskies and a Final Four trip on the line in the nation’s capital?
Yes, that’ll do just fine. Between them, they’ve got 11 national titles, 25 Final Fours and 87 — yes, 87 — NCAA tournament appearances. Dead blue bloods?