It couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't happen this year.
Syracuse and Duke played two dillies of a college basketball game last year, striking a rivalry in the Orange's first year of play in the Atlantic Coast Conference that would make coaches Jim Boeheim and Mike Kryzewski forget about their Olympic-sized friendship every time their squads would face each other on the court.
Overtime in the Carrier Dome before a record crowd of 35,446 in the first-ever matchup, won 91-89 as Syracuse raised its record to 21-0 by winning a game so tense because it seemed as if neither team was going to miss a shot. First-ever ejection for Boeheim in the rematch after he throws off his suit jacket and goes ballistic when C.J. Fair is called for a charge in the pivotal final moments as Duke prevails 66-60 in front of 9.314 in tumultuous Cameron Indoor Stadium to hand Syracuse its second loss in a row after 25 straight wins.
This season, though, will be marked as the campaign of the self-imposed post-season ban, the year in which eight players were asked to do the job of 12, the one that may indeed have started slipping away when both freshman Tyler Ennis and sophomore Jerami Grant said, yes, thank you, we will roll the dice on that big NBA money to leave our Orange behind careers with seniors Fair and Baye Moussa Keita.
And yet ...
Still Syracuse officials had to cut off ticket sales at that same record 35,446 mark to tie the record.
Still Syracuse fans filled the bars on Marshall Street and the hill on Saturday afternoon, wearing Orange and rallying behind the iron three of senior center Rakeem Christmas, swing man Trevor Cooney and guard Michael Gbinije, then marching the rest of the way up the lawn through the cold and snow and biting wind chill to cheer on that trio and increasingly powerful forward Tyler Roberson and mercurial guard Caleb Joseph, to be spotted sparingly by Ron Patterson and B.J. Johnson and nominally by Chinoso Obokoh.
The fans, they did their part by wearing the ever-present bright in color and saying Orange T.
A favorite this year proclaimed on the front, "Meet Dick. Dick's a Duke Fan." On the back: "Don't Be a Dick."
Many wore last year's go-to for that first clash, "Beat Duke" on the front, "The Rivalry Begins" on the back. One guy customized his Beat Duke with some back-side handiwork that read "ESPECIALLY THIS YEAR."
The signs held up throughout the capacity crowd were many, witty and passionate.
"Breathe if you hate Duke," it said in the 300-level student section.
Down below, anti-Duke-freshman-star: "Jahlil Okafor Wears CROCS."
Down below, pro-Syracuse-junior-guard "Silent G" Gbinije: "GBeat Duke."
And for the first 20 minutes, it looked as if it just might happen, what couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't.
Gbinije was anything but silent, hitting threes from all over the court, scoring 19 points in the in the half. Cooney hit a couple of three-pointers in a row, amping the crowd. Roberson pulled down rebounds. Christmas rendered Okafor neutral inside. The fans fed off the team, and the teams fed off the fans. Syracuse led by as many as nine points. Alas, talented Duke stayed calm, and cut the lead to three at the half.
Duke came out from the locker room instructed and poised and immediately took the lead. Syracuse looked tired and rushed and ... fought back to within four, within the last minute, when senior star Christmas snaked inside and laid the ball up. It hung on the rim. Tantalizingly. And fell off. Duke scored to go up by six again. Coach K's Blue Devils, ranked fourth in the nation, won 80-72 to raise their record to 22-3.
They meet again Feb. 28 in Durham, where Coach K will most likely remind his guys what he said to the media after this one: "I think it's a great rivalry."