Almost everything we’d come to believe about college basketball has been proved wrong. We recall the 2015 Final Four. Kentucky, then 38-0, lost in the semifinals to Wisconsin, which lost to Duke in the title game. Those Blue Devils started three freshmen, same as Kentucky had in 2012, when the Wildcats took the title.
That was the formula: Sign the nation’s best recruiting class and win it all. John Calipari took his mostly-one-and-done Big Blue to four Final Fours over five years. Mike Krzyzewski, bowing to reality, adopted the same blueprint. Surely either Duke or Kentucky would be crowned champ in every season from here to eternity.
Neither Duke nor Kentucky, each coached by a Hall of Famer, has reached a Final Four since. Duke had Brandon Ingram, Jayson Tatum, Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Marvin Bagley — all top-three picks in their respective drafts. Kentucky had eight lottery picks over the same span. But no Final Fours for any of those luminaries.
