You’ve probably seen by now that Duke lost to Boston College Sunday evening for the first time since 1985.
Granted the Eagles’ streak of futility only spanned eight games in those 24 years, but it’s still quite an accomplishment for Boston College to finally take down Duke.
But here’s an interesting tidbit:
On March 17, 1985, when Boston College defeated Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the head coach for that BC team was the one and only…
Gary Williams.
Gary’s Eagles were the 11th seed, and after knocking off Texas Tech in the first round, they upset third-seeded Duke. Boston College, which had former Terps assistant coach Michael Adams as a player, went on to lose their Sweet Sixteen matchup against Memphis State (which has since dropped the “State”).
BC over Duke isn’t the upset most people remember from that year though. Eighth-seeded Villanova wound up winning the national championship over a heavily-favored Georgetown team, in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in tournament history.
As a five seed that year, Maryland, then coached by Lefty Dreisell, lost to those eventual champion Villanova Wildcats in the Sweet Sixteen.
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