Where Have You Gone, Duke Blue Devils? Are the Glory Days Finally Over?

The Duke Blue Devils have always been a power house in the NCAA Tournament, as long as I can remember. They were the team to beat during the 1990s, winning back-to-back championships in '91 and '92, reaching the Championship Game in '94 and '99, and winning the tournament again in 2001. In the last five years, the tables have turned and now Duke can't seem to get past a wall that leads to the finals.

In the last five to seven years, there has been a wall, smack in the middle of the NCAA Tournament for the Blue Devils. Their days in the tournament seem to be getting smaller every year.

The wall seems to be built in the Sweet 16. The struggle really started in 2005, when the Blue Devils lost to a tough Michigan State team in the Sweet 16. The disappointing loss came after they had made it to the Finals against UConn a year earlier.

In 2006, they did it again, losing to LSU in the Sweet 16. Duke wasn't used to this and panic would start to arise in Durham. In 2007, Duke did something that they hadn't done since 1996. Duke had lost in the first round, to a team no one suspected, Virginia Commonwealth.

It seemed like the Duke era was coming to an end, and in 2008 it almost became a reality. Duke almost lost in the first round again to Belmont, only to see them squeak out a win by one point. Their run would end only days later to West Virginia.

Their Elite Eight and Final Four drought continues, after being demolished last night by an extremely powerful Villanova team.

Duke has always made March exciting, from Christian Laettner to Jason Williams. We want that back, but for now we will just have to wait.