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The Duke Blue Devils are one of the historic programs of college basketball, and their name is synonymous with winning and excellence on the hardwood.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski, affectionately known as 'Coach K', turned the team into a college blue blood and a household brand, collecting five NCAA championships, and 13 Final Four appearances in his 42 seasons run with the Blue Devils.
They are the epitome of what a college basketball team should be. However, despite their reputation, prestige and knack for recruiting top talent, they are not immune to the 'once-in-a-while' upsets in March Madness.
Let's take a deep dive into the Blue Devils' first-round losses in the NCAA tournament.
When did Duke lose in the first round (Round of 64) of the NCAA Tournament?
Due to the expansion of the NCAA tournament, some of Blue Devils's upset losses in their first game of the NCAA tournament are labeled second-round losses.
We will include these losses in this article, as they are technically Round of 64 games. Also, we will highlight first-round losses in Coach Mike Krzyzewski's time with the Blue Devils.
1996 NCAA Tournament (Lost to No. 9 Eastern Michican, 1st Round)
After Duke missed out on the big dance the previous year, they returned in the 1996 NCAA Tournament as the No. 8 seed in the Southeast Regional, against future NBA player, five-foot-seven Earl Boykinds and No. 9 seed Eastern Michigan.
It was a short stay in the tournament for them, as they lost their Round of 64 game 75-60. Eagles' Early Boykins dropped 23 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds in their first-round upset against the Blue Devils.
2007 NCAA Tournament (Lost to No. 11 VCU, 1st Round)
VCU coach Shaka Smart and 11th-seeded Rams started their Cinderella run to the Final Four with a 79-77 first-round victory over No. 6 Duke in the first round of the West Regional in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
Future NBAer, and Utah Jazz point guard Eric Maynor led VCU in the upset win with 22 points and eight assists. Duke's Greg Paulus led the game in scoring with 25 points, and his teammate Josh McRoberts posted 22 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
2012 NCAA Tournament (Lost to No. 15 Lehigh, 1st Round)
Austin Rivers was Duke's prized recruit for their 2012 college basketball season, the High School Parade All-American led the Duke Blue Devils (27-7) to a No. 2 seed in the West Regional of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Their great run was cut short by future NBA star, CJ McCollum, and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.
McCollum dropped 30 points, six rebounds and six assists against the Blue Devils. He eventually got drafted 10th overall by the Portland Trailblazers in the 2013 NBA Draft, with the upset win against Duke likely having something to do with that. Austin Rivers and Mason Plumlee each dropped 19 points in the losing effort.
2014 NCAA Tournament (Lost to No. 14 Mercer, 1st Round)
The No. 3 seed, Duke Blue Devils lost to a double-digit seed for the second time in three seasons, this time falling to No. 14 seeded Mercer, 78-71.
Mercer Bear's Jake Gollon played the game of his life, scoring 20 points to secure the upset against Mike Krzyzewski's squad.
