WASHINGTON (AP) — Believe it or not, there was a time when Duke and UConn were still trying to ascend to college basketball's summit. Neither had won a national title when they met in a regional final in 1990, with the Blue Devils prevailing on the slightly less famous of Christian Laettner's two March Madness buzzer-beaters.
Since then, UConn has six championships and Duke five. No other school has more than four in that span.
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FILE - Duke's Christian Laettner, center, celebrates his game-winning shot against Connecticut in the NCAA East Regional Final at East Rutherford, N.J., on March 24, 1990. In the background is teammate Bobby Hurley. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan, File)
Duke forward Cameron Boozer (12) drives as St. John's forward Bryce Hopkins (23) defends during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer speaks during a press conference ahead of a game against UConn in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn head coach Dan Hurley reacts during the first half against Michigan State in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn head coach Dan Hurley laughs during a press conference ahead of a game against Duke in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
No wonder Sunday's Elite Eight matchup between the Huskies and Blue Devils feels a little early. This year, the Final Four only has room for one of them.
“Obviously they’re both world-class institutions, but basketball is critically important,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said Saturday. “Since the ’90s, UConn and Duke have been the two best college basketball programs on the men’s side in the last 30 years. So it’s a pretty cool matchup.”
Duke and UConn first met in the NCAA Tournament back in 1964 — a 47-point win that sent the Blue Devils to the Final Four — but it was the 1990 clash that foreshadowed what this rivalry would become. Duke won that one, then eliminated the Huskies again in the 1991 Sweet 16.
UConn eventually broke through. In fact, Mike Krzyzewski probably wins two more national championships if not for the Huskies. His 1999 Duke team was loaded but lost in the title game to UConn in a battle of No. 1 seeds — the result surprising enough that Huskies guard Khalid El-Amin's first reaction was to shout “We shocked the world!” loud enough to be heard on the broadcast.
Five years later, UConn topped Duke in what was technically a semifinal, but they were the two best teams remaining. The Blue Devils blew an eight-point lead in the final three minutes. UConn's victory over Georgia Tech in the actual title game was anticlimactic by comparison.
Now, Coach K vs. Jim Calhoun has morphed into Jon Scheyer vs. Hurley. And Hurley has a family tie to the rivalry. His brother Bobby was a star at Duke and played in the 1990 win over UConn. Dan Hurley was at the game — and he says he and Bobby also attended the 2004 Final Four matchup.
“My family has obviously got this special connection with Duke, with Bob and how much that has meant to our family, those moments, my brother’s success and the amazing run he had there,” Hurley said. “Now being on the UConn side of it, kind of an archrival this time of year, some heartbreaking moments on both sides, to find myself, I would not have imagined I’d be on either side of this.
"Pretty cool to be in an Elite Eight game versus Duke here after having witnessed so much of it.”
Duke (35-2) enters Sunday as the tournament's top overall seed, with the longest active winning streak in the country at 14 games. UConn (32-5) is trying for its third national championship in four years, a feat not accomplished since the final years of John Wooden's UCLA dynasty over a half-century ago.
“I think what coach Hurley has done, he’s been able to — as a coach, you want as much control as possible, right? The way that they run called actions, they’re able to manipulate where they’re getting what they want most times,” Scheyer said. “To think that we can go over every action or every play, it’s impossible in a one-day prep. So for us it’s been about concepts, it’s been about personnel, and then still doing what we feel we do best, and that’s the activity we have on the defensive end."
Duke and UConn reached this point by beating St. John'sand Michigan State, respectively, in the Sweet 16. The East Region was heavy on brand names, and Friday's games lived up to expectations. Both winning teams escaped when the opponent missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it in the final seconds.
All that's left is for the Blue Devils and Huskies to play another classic.
“You have two of the biggest brands in college basketball going at it to make it to the Final Four. I think it’s super special,” UConn forward Alex Karaban said. “You’ve seen Duke, you’ve seen UConn throughout your entire life when you watch college basketball growing up. To be another piece of that story of those two programs going at it, I think it’s awesome.”
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
FILE - Duke's Christian Laettner, center, celebrates his game-winning shot against Connecticut in the NCAA East Regional Final at East Rutherford, N.J., on March 24, 1990. In the background is teammate Bobby Hurley. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan, File)
Duke forward Cameron Boozer (12) drives as St. John's forward Bryce Hopkins (23) defends during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer speaks during a press conference ahead of a game against UConn in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn head coach Dan Hurley reacts during the first half against Michigan State in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn head coach Dan Hurley laughs during a press conference ahead of a game against Duke in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — For the first time in nearly a decade, President Donald Trump did not attend one of the biggest annual meetings of conservatives. But even in his absence, the Conservative Political Action Conference revolved around him.
There were disagreements over his war with Iran, pride over his immigration crackdown and lots of encouragement to avoid infighting as the Republican Party faces a difficult midterm election.
It was a contrast with last year's gathering, when conservatives were riding high after Trump's return to office and Elon Musk waved a chain saw to symbolize his new role leading the Department of Government Efficiency.
Here's a look at some of the key moments.
From the conference's opening moments, speaker after speaker appealed for unity.
“They want us divided,” warned Mercedes Schlapp, a senior fellow at CPAC whose husband, Matt, chairs the organization.
Evangelist Franklin Graham said the war with Iran represents a “critical time for our country.”
“We can discuss our differences, but do it with respect without attacking and tearing down the other person,” he said. “Save that for the socialists.”
Conservative influencer Benny Johnson said he was “well aware” of debates within the conservative movement but said Trump's supporters should focus on his victories, such as tighter border security.
“I want to establish something very clearly here that your enemy is not the people that you have good-faith disagreements with inside your movement,” he said. “Your enemy is the Marxist, and they’re going to be running against us hard in the midterms and in 2028.”
It was clear, however, that the conservative movement was not on the same page about the war with Iran. While there was little criticism of Trump, some warned against deepening the conflict.
“A ground invasion of Iran will make our country poorer and less safe. It will mean higher gas prices, higher food prices, and I’m not sure we would end up killing more terrorists than we would create,” said former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally, said that “the decision in going forward is obviously the commander in chief’s,” but he suggested that the American people still need to be convinced.
“You have to be convinced that this is the right thing to do, particularly now that we’re on the eve of potentially the insertion of American combat troops,” he said. “Your sons, daughters, granddaughters, grandsons could be on Kharg Island or holding a beachhead down by the Strait of Hormuz. ”
Recent polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that Trump risks frustrating his voters if gas prices continue rising as the country faces the kind of prolonged war in the Middle East that he promised to avoid.
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi told the gathering he was ready to lead a new Iranian government and would call on the country's citizens to rise up when the “right moment arrives.”
Pahlavi is the son of the shah, a monarch deposed in 1979 when the Islamic theocracy came to power.
He hasn't lived in Iran for five decades, but was interrupted several times by enthusiastic applause and cheers. He praised Trump for attacking Iran, and suggested that the country could one day be a U.S. ally.
“Can you imagine Iran going from death to America to God bless America?” he said.
“President Trump is making America great again," Pahlavi said. "I intend to make Iran great again.”
Hundreds of Iranian Americans attended the conference and frequently had impromptu pro-war demonstrations, chanting “thank you, Trump!”
Trump's handling of immigration got some of the biggest applause at the conference, and one of the special guests included recently retired Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino. He had led high-profile urban crackdowns but was pushed aside after two protesters were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Bovino briefly came onstage during Benny Johnson's speech. The actor Dean Cain also shook Bovino's hand.
Tom Homan, Trump's border czar who took over for Bovino in Minnesota, was also at the conference. He drew cheers when he said Trump wouldn't walk away from his deportation campaign.
“I don’t care if people hate me,” he said.
Top administration officials made clear Trump's ambitions for reshaping the country.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said more than 200 people who participated in investigations of the president were fired, retired or quit.
“President Trump, for the first time in modern history, has said, ‘I am the president,’" said Blanche, who previously worked as Trump's defense attorney. “And if you work in the executive branch, you work for me.”
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr emphasized the president's influence over the media, pointing to PBS and NPR being defunded and praising the departure of people like Stephen Colbert, whose show will end in May.
“President Trump is taking on the fake news media, and President Trump is winning,” he said.
Every year, CPAC conducts a straw poll as an informal measure of conservatives' sentiments.
Asked who they wanted as Republicans' presidential nominee in 2028, Vice President JD Vance finished first with 53% support. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was second with 35%. No other potential candidate surpassed 2% support. (Trump, who has mused about serving a third term despite constitutional limits, was not listed as an option.)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton got CPAC's endorsement in the U.S. Senate runoff on May 26, when he's facing incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
As in previous years, CPAC leaned into its relationships overseas.
The conference featured international speakers like Polish President Karol Nawrocki and former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who announced the first British CPAC in July.
Conservatives from Australia, Brazil Germany, Hungary and Japan also appeared on stage to say they're developing or working to put on similar conferences in their nations.
Catalini reported from Morrisville, Pennsylvania.
The crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gives exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi a standing ovation in Dallas, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos)
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos)
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos)
Steve Bannon speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, in Dallas, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos)
CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp introduces International Director of CPAC Hungary Magor Ernyei at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC in Dallas, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos)
Brazilian Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro applauds during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC in Dallas, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos)
