Duke did more than book a ticket to the Elite Eight on Friday night.
When the final buzzer sounded and Duke put the finishing touches on a 54-51 victory over No. 1 Houston, it marked the first time that the Blue Devils had defeated a higher-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament since 1994.
The last time the Blue Devils had defeated a higher-ranked team in March Madness, Grant Hill helped Duke past top-ranked Purdue in the Elite Eight.
Granted, Duke had been the higher-ranked team in a lot of its games since. The Blue Devils had only been the lower-ranked team in five tournament games since that win over the Boilermakers. But a trend broken is a trend broken either way.
Duke faces its third double-digit seed of the tournament on Sunday when it faces No. 11 NC State, the same team that upset them in the ACC Tournament.