Duke is looking to advance to the Sweet 16 when they take on San Diego State on Sunday afternoon, and currently the Blue Devils are a favorite to do so.
The Duke players are well aware of what Aztecs coach Steve Fisher has accomplished not only during his time at Michigan but also the recent history of making San Diego State one of the best programs in the West.
"They're here for a reason," Quinn Cook said at Saturday's press conference. "Coach Fisher, he's obviously experienced coaching the Fab Five, being in National Championship games, actually winning the National Championship, going to the Elite Eight a couple years ago.
"We respect those guys, they're a top 20 team, they're here for a reason, they beat a great St. John's team that we played against and we struggled with those St. John's guys and they were up the whole game. We definitely respect those guys, they're here for a reason. We've got to prepare the same way as we do for any team and I think we're doing a great job of that and I know those guys will be ready."
Duke plays a tough schedule in the ACC and one of the tougher teams in that league are the Virginia Cavaliers, and the Blue Devil players feel that is who the Aztecs remind them of. Being compared to a team that was ranked in the top five for a good portion of the season is good company.
"They remind me a lot of Virginia just because of how good a defensive team they are and their size and length," Tyus Jones said. "They've got Polee and Shepard as a two and three and they're 6-7, 6-8, so when you've got size like that, it's a hard match-up and it definitely gives you an advantage so they remind me of Virginia just because of the size that they have."
The Duke players also mentioned how they will need to step up their defensive game if they are going to get past the Aztecs, and that could just be Mike Krzyzewski getting in their ear to up their defensive effort.