This is an opinion column.
In a way, you’ve seen this before.
Go back 51 weeks and Alabama found itself on a stage this program had never seen. That Final Four trip set the tone for a season with ramped-up expectations that wound its way to Newark, New Jersey on a Saturday night in late March
And like last April against UConn, the Crimson Tide bullet train ran into a blue-blooded brick wall.
The difference between really good and elite was again on display as Alabama’s season ended with an 85-65 beating from the aristocracy.
It was a reminder of how far the program’s come and the gap that still exists between its progress and where the big boys live.
They’re long. They’re deep.
This, like last year’s 86-72 loss to UConn, didn’t get out of hand. The Crimson Tide just never led and couldn’t get closer than six after it hit double figures.
It was neither a rout (until the closing moments) nor was it ever particularly competitive.
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Every run was answered because Duke is better than really good. It is elite.
Even when Alabama limited national player of the year front runner Cooper Flagg to 4-for-14 shooting through 28 minutes, Duke’s other future first-round picks picked up the slack. It had four different double-figure scorers midway through the second half when Alabama had just Chris Youngblood’s 10.
This is a program doing what Alabama football seeks with a near-seamless transition from legend to heir because the Blue Devils looked peak Coach K on Saturday night.
This was not BYU.
Not even close.
And it was never going to resemble the Sweet 16 because the fellas from Durham had the plan and personnel BYU didn’t.
Two nights after Alabama shredded the record books with 113 points against a Cougar defense stuck in Secaucus, the Blue Devils played doctoral-level D.
For all the talk of their length being a factor, the buzz undersold its effect on the game.
Mark Sears, the All-American who dropped 34 points on 10 made 3s against BYU, had long-armed Blue Devils lurking in his shadow all night.
He took just four shots in the first half beginning with an ominous first possession. Duke’s suffocating defense forced a Sears’ heave at the shot clock buzzer that missed everything pertinent.
The Muscle Shoals product didn’t score until the 2:16 mark in the first half on a midrange jumper.
The program’s first unanimous All-American finished with six points on 2-for-12 shooting on the final night of his legendary college career.
This was a bookend on a season that began with the promise of a preseason No. 2 ranking that invited championship-or-bust expectations. It’s hard to call this a complete failure, especially considering November No. 1 Kansas finished with a 21-13 record a first-round exit.
Yet it was a reminder of the difference between how far Alabama’s come and where it still needs to go.
The NCAA tournament meat grinder can produce magical first-round upsets but water typically finds its level when you reach the Elite Eight or Final Four.
It did last April in Arizona, and again Saturday night in Newark.
Alabama couldn’t afford to score its second fewest points of the season but that doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Duke made almost every offense look bad. Saturday, it held the nation’s top-scoring team 26 points below its 91.4-point season average.
Not to go football again, but it was like peak Saban teams handling an Oklahoma or Michigan State in a playoff semifinal. Taking a sound beating from a program on another plane doesn’t feel great but isn’t an abject failure.
Those teams were really good. Alabama football, from 2009-20, was elite.
So is Duke basketball.
That’s not to say the Crimson Tide can’t overtop a program of Duke’s stature. It took down No. 1 seed North Carolina en route to last year’s Final Four, but this Blue Devil team would crush those Tar Heels.
And one can’t forget how far this program’s climbed for this to even be a conversation. A decade ago, bubble chatter was the ceiling.
Now they were competing for a second straight Final Four.
But it’s still a tier below the Dukes and UConns of the world.
That’s worthy of neither a banner nor shame while the truth is undeniable.
For a second straight year, a record-setting Alabama season ended at the hand of a goliath.
Yes, you’ve seen this before.
Really good still isn’t elite.
The challenge now is to hold onto that sling and reach for another stone.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.