Villanova's dominance proves Duke's no longer great

East Regional | Edge: Pittsburgh-Villanova

BOSTON -- After watching their bodies get pulverized, after watching them get outrebounded, get dunked on, get confused, get just about run out of the gym by Villanova, there was a moment -- a millisecond -- where you actually felt sorry for Duke.

Then something happened. In the second half, as the Blue Devils were trailing by 11 points, Duke's Kyle Singler made a basket, looked into the face of one of the Villanova players, and called him another word for a female dog.

After that, those pangs of sympathy for Duke were gone, as brief as they were.

Villanova blasted Duke 77-54. Clubbed baby seals have been treated better than the Blue Devils were by Villanova.

When asked if he was shocked about their 23-point margin of victory, Villanova coach Jay Wright said, "Definitely. Now that we've played [the game] ... everything fell into place for us."

You think, Jay?

That's like saying everything fell into place for the Roman Empire.

The Blue Devils fail to reach the Elite Eight for a fifth consecutive season. (AP)

Villanova fans started chanting "We want Pitt!" in the final minutes. They'll get their wish as Pittsburgh and Villanova play each other on Saturday night for a trip to the Final Four.

This was embarrassing for Duke, really. At one point, it was clear Villanova was simply toying with the Blue Devils. With just under four minutes left and the Wildcats up by 18, one of the Villanova players threw the basketball off the back of the head of a Blue Devil in order to maintain possession.

It wasn't necessary. Villanova did it just because it could.

Late in the game the Wildcats were still shooting 3s. Duke players looked on helplessly, like a bully had just stolen their lunch money.

Another postseason run for the Blue Devils and another game that demonstrates that the Duke program is no longer great. It's good, not great. Just good.

Of course good is fine for most programs but it remains a startling thing to see how Duke has de-evolved into Xavier.

Villanova toyed with Duke for most of the night. The score wasn't indicative of how much the Wildcats dominated. It wasn't close because the talent disparity between the two programs is drastic.

And you know what? Mike Krzyzewski knew it. For much of the game he calmly sat in his seat. There were few exclamations or outbursts. He knew what he was watching. It was Christians and lions. There was no amount of coaching that could make up for the talent gap so Krzyzewski figured he might as well sit down and keep quiet.

"We didn't play well tonight," Krzyzewski said. "... Villanova outplayed us. I love Villanova's team and what Jay has done with his team. They've got a chance to do something special, because they can really handle the ball and they play very good defense and they're tough. They're just a tough basketball team. They're a very, very good basketball team."

Duke was shell-shocked by a 12-1 Villanova run early in the second half as six different Wildcats scored. Duke never recovered and seemed, at that point, like it was simply trying to keep the game from becoming a blowout.

Two of Duke's stars, Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer, combined for 4-of-32 from the field including 3-for-15 from 3-point range. It wasn't an off night of shooting. It was Villanova's defense.

Villanova has an outside chance of becoming the next Duke.

The question is: just what exactly is Duke becoming?