Duke’s current efficiency is 38.15, the nation’s highest since the 2001 Blue Devils ended the season, with an NCAA championship, at 37.32. The only team with a higher KenPom efficiency at time of the year? Duke’s 1999 team that went 37-2 and finished with a 43.01 efficiency.

The Duke Blue Devils advanced to the Elite Eight on Thursday night with a hard-fought 100-93 victory over the Arizona Wildcats. With the field of eight teams left in the 2025 NCAA Tournament set, ESPN recently revealed where Duke ranks among the competition.

Instead, the Blue Devils improbably squandered a big lead against Houston and saw their season end in the Final Four. And that puts this 35-win Duke team on a select list of elite teams that fell short of winning the NCAA title in the 40 tournaments since expansion to 64 teams in 1985.