YouTube Gold: Duke Smacks The Fab Five Around (Again)
It was a fun secondary part of a glorious era of Duke Basketball
Duke and Michigan’s Fab Five had some intense history.
In 1991, fresh off the national title, Duke went to Ann Arbor to take on the Fab Five, and Michigan took them to overtime before falling, 88-85.
They met again in the national championship game and in the first half, it looked as if Michigan might gut the Blue Devils.
Didn’t happen of course: Duke woke up in the second half and rolled to a 20-point win, 71-51.
They scheduled a third meeting in the fall of 1992, but the incomparable Christian Laettner had departed.
Michigan woofed though, talking about how Duke “stole their national championship.”
That was a mistake.
Cameron reached a level we usually only see for UNC and the Wolverines wilted, losing 79-68.
The rivals squared off one more time in 1993-94. Christian Laettner, Brian Davis, Bobby Hurley and Thomas Hill were all gone from Duke’s roster and Michigan was now the Fab Four, with Chris Webber having departed for the NBA.
Still didn’t matter: Duke won at Ann Arbor again, 73-63.
The Fab Five, or later the Fab Four, have never gotten over it and Duke has never let them forget one minute of it.