Rather than analyze where Maryland is as a basketball team in early January entering its date with No. 1 Duke, it seems like a good time to think about this differently.
Namely, take a wide-angle look at what it would mean to upend a top-ranked Blue Devils team on a long winning streak.
That's happened more than a few times over the years. Duke has won 24 straight games dating back to March, the 23rd win streak of at least 10 games that Mike Krzyzewski has presided over in Durham.
The sustained run of excellence has left Duke atop the national rankings enough for Krzyzewski to pick up more than 10 percent of his 220 losses with the Blue Devils when his team is ranked No. 1.
Consider: Coach K has 24 losses as the nation's No. 1 team. Among other active coaches, only Roy Williams (54), Jim Calhoun (29), John Calipari (21), Bill Self (17), Mike Montgomery (16), Bob Huggins (15) and Bruce Weber (15) have even spent a dozen weeks at No. 1 in their careers.
Two of those losses at No. 1 have come to a Maryland team coached by Gary Williams. Only Dean Smith (3), Bill Guthridge (2) and Dave Odom (2) have as many.
Then there's the long Duke winning streaks. The Blue Devils are in the midst of their second-longest winning streak under Krzyzewski, eight shy of his best run (one that took up December, January, February and nearly all of March in the 1998-99 season). Williams was the coach who helped put an end to four of the previous winning streaks of 10 or more; only Smith (four) and Dino Gaudio (two) also have ended more than one.
Coach K's march toward Bob Knight's career victories record (and his work with the U.S. national team) has created new ways to appreciate the totality of his work. The next two charts do the same even while examining losses; with college basketball the way it is today, even having the opportunity to lose two dozen times as the nation's No. 1 team (and triumph much more than that) and uncorking nearly as many winning streaks of 10 games is a remarkable and almost incomprehensible feat.
DUKE'S LOSSES AT No. 1 UNDER KRZYZEWSKI
BY TEAM
6: North Carolina
3: Wake Forest
2: Florida State
2: Maryland
1: Cincinnati
1: Connecticut
1: Florida
1: Georgetown
1: Georgia Tech
1: Indiana
1: Louisiana State
1: Louisville
1: Michigan
1: N.C. State
1: Stanford
March 31, 1986: vs. Louisville (72-69) in NCAA final
Jan. 18, 1989: North Carolina (91-71)
Jan. 21, 1989: at Wake Forest (75-71)
Feb. 5, 1992: at North Carolina (75-73)
Feb. 23, 1992: at Wake Forest (72-68)
Jan. 10, 1993: at Georgia Tech (80-79)
Feb. 3, 1994: at North Carolina (89-78)
Dec. 13, 1997: at Michigan (81-73)
Feb. 5, 1998: at North Carolina (97-73)
March 8, 1998: vs. North Carolina (83-68) in ACC final
Nov. 28, 1998: vs. Cincinnati (77-75) in Great Alaska Shootout
March 29, 1999: vs. Connecticut (77-74) in NCAA final
March 24, 2000: vs. Florida (87-78) in NCAA regional semifinals
Dec. 21, 2000: vs. Stanford (84-83) in Oakland, Calif.
Jan. 6, 2002: at Florida State (77-76)
Feb. 17, 2002: at Maryland (87-73)
March 21, 2002: vs. Indiana (74-73) in NCAA regional semifinals
Jan. 18, 2003: at Maryland (87-72)
Feb. 15, 2004: at N.C. State (78-74)
Jan. 21, 2006: at Georgetown (87-84)
March 1, 2006: at Florida State (79-74)
March 4, 2006: North Carolina (83-76)
March 23, 2005: vs. Louisiana State (62-54) in NCAA regional semifinals
Jan. 28, 2009: at Wake Forest (70-68)
DUKE'S LOSSES TO END DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN STREAKS UNDER KRZYZEWSKI
BY OPPONENT
5: Maryland
5: North Carolina
3: Wake Forest
2: Florida State
1: Connecticut
1: Georgetown
1: Georgia Tech
1: Louisville
1: N.C. State
1: Pittsburgh
1: Stanford
32: March 29, 1999 (Connecticut 77-74) --- NCAA final
23: Jan. 10, 1993 (Georgia Tech 80-79)
22: Jan. 6, 2002 (Florida State 77-76)
21: March 31, 1986 (Louisville 72-69) --- NCAA final
18: Feb. 9, 2000 (Maryland 98-87)
18: Feb. 15, 2004 (N.C. State 78-74)
17: Feb. 5, 1992 (North Carolina 75-73)
17: Jan. 21, 2006 (Georgetown 87-84)
16: Jan. 18, 1986 (North Carolina 95-92)
15: Jan. 26, 2005 (Maryland 75-66)
13: Jan. 18, 1989 (North Carolina 91-71)
12: Jan. 14, 1985 (Maryland 78-76)
12: Jan. 18, 2003 (Maryland 87-72)
12: Feb. 17, 2008 (Wake Forest 86-73)
11: Feb. 5, 1999 (North Carolina 97-73)
11: Feb. 17, 2002 (Maryland 87-73)
10: Jan. 10, 1987 (North Carolina 85-77)
10: Jan. 13, 1994 (Wake Forest 69-68)
10: Dec. 21, 2000 (Stanford 84-83)
10: March 1, 2006 (Florida State 79-74)
10: Dec. 20, 2007 (Pittsburgh 65-64)
10: Jan. 28, 2009 (Wake Forest 70-68)
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