NCAA Title Prospects Dim for Duke After Getting Devil Beat Out of It

Duke fans who know their hoop history (such as school's all-time worst defeat was by 75 points - 90-15 - against Washington & Lee in 1912-13) were particularly blue after their #1-ranked team got the devil beat out of it at Miami (Fla.) by 28 points, 90-62. That moody blue is because no NCAA Tournament champion ever lost a pre-NCAA Tournament game by such a wide margin. Following are the six NCAA titlists, including Duke '91, to lose a pre-NCAA playoff road contest by more than 20 points:

Champion (Losing Margin)	Pre-NCAA Playoff Defeat
UCLA '65 (27)	at Illinois (110-83)
North Carolina '93 (26)	at Wake Forest (88-62)
Villanova '85 (23)	at Pittsburgh (85-62)
UCLA '75 (22)	at Washington (103-81)
Duke '91 (22)	at Charlotte vs. North Carolina (96-74)
Maryland '02 (21)	at Duke (99-78)