This is an opinion column.
In a way, you’ve already seen this.
Back 51 weeks and Alabama ended up on a scene that this program had never seen. This final trip Four set the tone for a season with creeping expectations that ended up in Newark, New Jersey a Saturday night at the end of March
And as last April against Uconn, the high -speed train Crimson Tide ran in a blue blood brick wall.
The difference between really good and Elite was again exposed while the Alabama season ended with a flap of 85-65 of the aristocracy.
It was a reminder of the measure to which the program came and the gap that still exists between its progress and where the big boys live.
They are long. They are deep.
This, like the defeat of 86-72 from last year against Uconn, has not become uncontrollable. The Crimson Tide never led and could not get closer to six after hitting the double numbers.
It was neither a rout (up to the moments of closing) and it was never particularly competitive.
Each race has been answered because Duke is better than really good. It’s the elite.
Even when the Alabama limited the national player of the year Cooper Flagg at 4 for 14 shooting in 28 minutes, the other future future choices of Duke took over. He had four two -digit markers in the middle of the second half when the Alabama had only Chris Youngblood 10.
This is a program that does what the Alabama Football is looking with an almost transparent transition from the legend to the heir because the Blue Devils seem of Peak Coach K on Saturday evening.
It was not byu.
Not even near.
And that was never going to look like Sweet 16 because Durham’s guys had the plan and the staff byu was not.
Two nights after the Alabama shred down the records with 113 points against a defense of cougar stuck in Secaucus, the Blue Devils played at doctorate D.
For all speeches over their length to be a factor, the buzz underestimates its effect on the game.
Mark Sears, the All-American who left 34 out of 10 points made 3s against Byu, had long-term blue demons hidden in his shadow all night.
He only took four shots in the first half starting with a disturbing first possession. Duke’s stifling defense forced a Sears uprising to the buzzer of the shooting stopwatch which missed everything that is relevant.
The Muscle Shoals product did not score before the 2:16 brand in the first half on a mid-range rider.
The first unanimous All-American of the program finished with six points on a shot of 2 for 12 on the last night of his legendary university career.
It was a book greenhouse in a season that started with the promise of a pre-season n ° 2 ranking which invited championship expectations or suddenly. It is difficult to call this a complete failure, especially if the Kansas n ° 1 in November finished with a record of 21-13 an outing in the first round.
However, it was a reminder of the difference between how far Alabama arrives and where he still has to go.
The meat crusher from the NCAA tournament can produce first -round magic upheavals, but water usually finds its level when you reach the elite eight or four finals.
He did last April in Arizona, and again on Saturday evening in Newark.
Alabama could not afford to mark its second fewer points of the season, but that does not happen in a vacuum. Duke made almost all the offenses are bad. On Saturday, he held the most striking team in the country 26 points below his season average of 91.4 points.
In order not to resume football, but it was like Saban cutting-edge teams managing Oklahoma or a state of Michigan in the semi-final of the playoffs. Taking a beating sounds from a program on another plane does not feel well but is not an abject failure.
These teams were really good. The Alabama Football, from 2009 to 2000, was elite.
The same goes for Duke Basketball.
This does not mean that the crimson tide cannot exceed a Duke stature program. He killed the head of N ° 1 in North Carolina on the way to the Final Four from last year, but this Blue Devil team would crush these Tar Heels.
And we cannot forget how far this program has climbed so that it is even a conversation. Ten years ago, Bubble Schatter was the ceiling.
Now they were in competition for a last last Final Four.
But it is always a level below the dukes and the Uconns of the world.
It is worthy of neither banner nor shame when the truth is undeniable.
For a second consecutive year, a record season of Alabama ended in the hands of a Goliath.
Yes, you’ve already seen this.
Really good is still not the elite.
The challenge is now to keep this scarf and reach another stone.
Michael Casagrande is a journalist from the Alabama media group. Follow him on Twitter @Bycasagrande or on Facebook.
