Deep Blue Runs

For North Carolina it was Weber State in 1999. For Duke it was Lehigh in 2012 and Mercer in 2014.

For Virginia it was most famously Maryland Baltimore County in the first round in 2018, the most prominent of four ACC squads that winked out quickly in last year’s NCAAs. (The others were Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech.)

One and done. Crash and burn. Fuel for the critics.

Every frequent visitor to the NCAAs has its story of an early stumble, an unexpected ouster that lives on long past the sting of defeat fades -- to be raised periodically by friends and coaches for cautionary purposes and by haters and competitors to revel in the faded ashes of embarrassment.

Getting by the first round, or the second round, or whatever a team’s NCAA opener is called these days, can be an unexpected burden. Especially for teams that are highly ranked and either adjusting to injuries or beset by wavering concentration or cohesion.

This year No. 1-seeded Duke opens against cross-Durham rival N.C. Central or North Dakota State, then gets either VCU or Central Florida, coached by former Blue Devil star Johnny Dawkins.

During Mike Krzyzewski’s 39 seasons at Duke, his teams have now made 35 appearances and lost their initial NCAA encounter five times. That’s the same number of times his Blue Devils went through an NCAA tournament without a defeat.

Duke had multiple victories in 24 of 34 previous trips to the NCAAs, better than two-thirds of the time.