Top 5 Reasons Why Duke-Arizona Basketball Rivalry Is Unique

The Arizona Wildcats and Duke Blue Devils basketball programs have met eight times, dating to 1961, and they are appropriately deadlocked at four wins apiece.

The Arizona Wildcats and Duke Blue Devils feature the most traditionally strong programs over the last two decades from the West and East coasts. The Wildcats and Blue Devils have been involved in classic games featuring Sean Elliott and Danny Ferry, Chris Mills and Grant Hill and Richard Jefferson and Shane Battier.

These are some of the reasons why the Arizona Wildcats and Duke Blue Devils comprise the most unique rivalry in college basketball.

Another chapter of the Arizona Wildcats vs. Duke Blue Devils rivalry will be written Friday night when the teams face each other at the NIT Season Tip-Off Classic championship at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Arizona's Aaron Gordon and Duke's Jabari Parker will play the role that Elliott and Ferry (two National Player of the Year candidates) played 25 years ago when the teams played a nonconference game at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.

The younger generation may not know much about Arizona vs. Duke because the programs have played only one game, a Sweet 16 victory for the Wildcats in 2011, in the last 12 years. But those who followed college hoops in the late 1980s and early 1990s know all about how intense the competition became between Arizona's Lute Olson and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski.

Before the programs played in the 2001 NCAA title game, Jefferson labeled Duke as "one of the most hated teams in the country" (via TucsonCitizen.com):

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“Duke might be one of the most hated teams in the country because they’re so good,” Jefferson said in a press conference. “Other players, I won’t say they’re sick of it, but they want to go out there and beat them. They want to give Duke their best shot.”

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Bold comments such as that, controversial calls, Hall of Fame coaches, tightly contested games, the West Coast vs. East Coast factor and the consistent success of the programs over the last 30 years are all elements that make Arizona vs. Duke so special and unique.

The following slideshow will go into these elements and others in more detail.

No. 5: Heated Comments in Past

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Former Duke player Danny Ferry and Arizona coach Lute Olson exchanged words during a 1987 game between the Blue Devils and Wildcats in Tucson

Richard Jefferson's comments in 2001 about Duke being one of the most hated programs in the country is only one bit of controversial dialogue between the programs. Take, for example, former Arizona coach Lute Olson and Duke's Danny Ferry and their most publicized exchange in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl Classic championship in Tucson.

In Olson's book "Lute! The Seasons of My Life," the former Arizona coach suggested that Mike Krzyzewski was on the refs all game. At one point, Ferry made a reference to the officials being “hometown refs” when he stood near the Arizona bench.

Olson writes in his book that he told Ferry, “Just play the game.” Olson and Krzyzewski exchanged words afterward. The refs stopped the game, brought them together at midcourt and warned them of potential technical fouls if they did not cool down.

“For a team like Duke that does not get a lot of fouls called against them at home to complain about the officiating was absolutely ridiculous,” Olson writes in his book.

Arizona won that game and another meeting with Duke at McKale Center in 1991. The double-overtime victory increased the Wildcats' home winning streak to 61 games, an accomplishment not thought highly of by the Blue Devils.

“We knew about the streak, but it wasn’t any big deal for us,” Duke's Thomas Hill was quoted as saying (via TucsonCitizen.com).

The Pac-10 officiating crew working the 1991 game called 35 fouls against Duke, which remains an opponent record at McKale Center, and they made a controversial call following a basket by Duke's Greg Koubek in the first overtime.

Almost a minute after Koubek's basket was ruled a three-pointer, the refs changed it to a two-point shot. Krzyzewski was livid.

It's no surprise that the 1991 double-overtime game was the last scheduled game between the programs. They have met three time since in the 1997 Maui Invitational title, 2001 NCAA championship game and 2011 Sweet 16 matchup.

No. 4: The Coaches

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Mike Krzyzewski has a 3-4 record against Arizona

The Arizona Wildcats vs. Duke Blue Devils series since 1987 featured six games between Hall of Fame coaches Lute Olson and Mike Krzyzewski, increasing the value of the rivalry.

Olson and Krzyzewski's teams each won three games against each other, with Krzyzewski taking home the most important victory; an 82-72 win in the 2001 NCAA title game.

Krzyzewski fell to 3-4 against Arizona in the Wildcats' convincing 93-77 victory in the 2011 Sweet 16 behind up-and-coming coach Sean Miller.

Krzyzewski is the career leader in coaching victories with a 39-year career record of 963-298, yet he has a losing record against Arizona. When Olson retired in 2008, he had only 28 fewer coaching victories than Krzyzewski at the time, with a career mark of 780-280 overall (via ESPN.com).

Miller is 29 years Krzyzewski's junior in the coaching profession but can improve to 2-1 against the legendary coach if Arizona beats Duke in the NIT Season Tip-Off title game Friday night.

No. 3: Production of NBA Talent

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Arizona's Derrick Williams (left) and Duke's Kyle Singler are now playing in the NBA

CBSSports.com reported in May that Arizona and Duke are among the top 10 programs in producing NBA talent in the last 10 years.

Arizona's media guide takes it further back to 1988, listing Arizona, Duke and Kentucky with the most NBA draft picks in the last 25 years. Arizona, Duke and Kentucky each have 36 draft picks.

Duke and Kentucky have more national titles and storied pasts than Arizona, but its high number of draft picks indicates that Arizona is as much of a national power presently as Duke and Kentucky.

Myron Medcalf of ESPN.com ranked Arizona last July as the No. 6 program in terms of quality of NBA talent produced. He ranked Duke No. 5.

"We’ve found multiple teams that possess rich college basketball traditions but lukewarm reputations for producing NBA talent," Metcalf writes. "Arizona is not among them. The Cats are a powerhouse in the college game and have a powerhouse presence in the pro game."

Friday night's game between Arizona and Duke in the NIT Season Tip-Off includes many more NBA prospects, including freshman phenoms Jabari Parker of Duke and Aaron Gordon of Arizona. 

No. 2: East Coast vs. West Coast Success Since 1985

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Lute Olson took Arizona to the NCAA tournament from the 1984-85 season to his last with Arizona in 2006-07

Arizona's media guide lists the Wildcats as the only West coast program among the top 5 in number of 20-win seasons from 1985-2013.

The Wildcats have 26 20-win seasons in that span, ranking No. 4 along with North Carolina. Duke is third with 27. Kansas and Syracuse are tied at the top with 28.

Arizona has played North Carolina, Kansas and Syracuse from 1985-2013. They have the most matchups against Kansas with 10 (4-6 record) in that span, but the Jayhawks are west of the Mississippi River.

The Wildcats have faced North Carolina six times (3-3 record) and Syracuse only three (1-2).

Arizona's record against Duke and Mike Krzyzewski from 1985-2013 is 4-3, the only winning record against the top 5 programs.

Krzyzewski has expressed concern about evening that record against Arizona in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday night (via Arizona Daily Star).

"Arizona is older and they're really big," Krzyzewski said. "I’m just glad we have the opportunity to play for a championship. Arizona is probably ahead of some other teams, Arizona and Michigan State (are). They have guys who played prominent roles back, and they added a great guard and a great wing to their lineup.

"They're big. It'll be completely different from playing this game (against Alabama). ... (Arizona) can post three guys from their starting lineup. They post (Aaron) Gordon. And we're not real big so that will be interesting how we try to get that going."

No. 1: Classic Games

An important factor in Arizona and Duke having a unique rivalry between two college basketball powers is the number of classic, meaningful games.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski started 1-3 against Arizona from 1987 to 1991, but two of those games were closely contested games in Tucson and a nail-biter in a marquee late-season nonconference game in 1989 at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.

The other game was a narrow win (78-76) by Duke in Durham, N.C.

In the games since, Duke and Arizona have met in only high-profile games: 1997 Maui Classic championship (won by Duke 95-87), 2001 NCAA title game (won by the Blue Devils 82-72) and a 2011 Sweet 16 game (won by Arizona 93-77).

One of the Arizona victories in Tucson early in the series was a 103-96 double-overtime affair in 1991. The Wildcats rallied to win despite losing by two with 12 seconds left in regulation and Duke with possession.

The 1989 classic included one of the snapshots of Sean Elliott's career, a three-point shot over fellow All-American Danny Ferry, that gave Arizona a 73-70 with 54 seconds left. The Wildcats held on to win 77-75.

Now they will meet in another game of national interest, the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Arizona is the No. 4-ranked team in the country while Duke is No. 6.