Walking to my office from the bus stop this morning while talking with a fellow bus rider, I wondered if Duke and UNC ever won national titles back-to-back. Checking the records books (okay, Wikipedia), I learned that the answer is yes! Duke won the national title in 1991 and 1992, followed by UNC in 1993.
Victorious UNC men’s basketball team after the 1993 NCAA championship game.
Hugh Morton traveled to Indianapolis in 1991 when both schools reached the Final Four. UNC lost its national semifinal to Kansas, coached by Roy Williams, 79 to 73. Morton hung around town and returned for the championship game to witness Duke’s downing of Kansas 72 to 65.
1991 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions Duke Blue Devils celebrating with trophy, in Indianapolis, IN. L to R on podium: #5 Bill McCaffrey, #32 Christian Laettner (background), #33 Grant Hill, Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, #23 Brian Davis, #12 Thomas Hill, #11 Bobby Hurley, and Clay Buckley (far right).
Morton did not make the trek to Minneapolis for Duke’s championship at the 1992 Final Four with UNC’s Southeast Regional lost to Ohio State in Lexington, Kentucky, but he certainly was not going know what it means to miss New Orleans in 1993. Follow that link to our story about that game, published in March 2013.
Duke was last years’s national champion. Will UNC follow in their footsteps this year and make history repeat itself?