“The way N.C. State was playing, I thought about how sometimes history repeats itself,” Krzyzewski said. “But because we won it and now we’re in the West, I said, ‘Maybe we should be the ones to do this for my buddy.”’

Krzyzewski’s “buddy” was the late Jim Valvano, who engineered the Cardiac Pack’s famous tournament performance in 1983. N.C. State started in Corvallis, Ore., then moved on to the regionals in Ogden, Utah, before finishing with two wins in the Final Four at Albuquerque, N.M.

Duke is not quite following in the Pack’s footsteps, but the Blue Devils picked up a pair of NCAA wins last weekend in Salt Lake City. Late today, the Devils head for the West Regional in Anaheim, Calif., where Krzyzewski’s team faces a Sweet 16 matchup at 8:57 p.m. Thursday against Kansas.

Geography is not the only difference between the ’83 Pack and the ’03 Blue Devils. Krzyzewski didn’t want to compare what Valvano’s team accomplished in 1983 with the five straight postseason wins his young Blue Devils have piled up this March.

“I don’t know if anybody will have a more remarkable run than Jim did because even in the ACC tournament, the three teams he beat … and the teams he beat in the NCAA Tournament and how they won, that was truly amazing,” the Duke coach said. “And I’m almost positive he stayed out on the West Coast.”

The last comment was a response to a question about Duke’s frantic travel schedule. The Blue Devils didn’t get back to campus from Salt Lake City until 6 a.m. Sunday morning. They’ll board a charter late this afternoon for the cross-country trip to Anaheim.

Krzyzewski said the team gave no thought to traveling directly from Salt Lake City to Anaheim and skipping the long trip to Durham and back.

“We just can’t miss that much school,” he said. “Also, for us we love being here. It rejuvenated us getting back to Raleigh-Durham airport and coming back here to this campus. I know that I feel more rested today than I did last week at this time.”

Krzyzewski said his team is in much better shape than the one he took to Salt Lake City. Sophomore Daniel Ewing and freshmen J.J. Redick appear to be over the illness that plagued them last weekend, while freshman Shavlik Randolph, out the last two weeks with a pair of sprained ankles, returned to practice Monday.

“Everyone seems to be in good shape — no excessive bumps and bruises,” Krzyzewski said. “A couple of the guys got bumped around. I was a little concerned.”

A week ago, the Blue Devils were worn out by their three-game sprint to the ACC title. That’s why the Duke coach was hoping to placed into a Friday-Sunday sub-regional, rather than a Thursday-Saturday site, which Salt Lake City was.

“I really think that was the cause of us getting sick,” he said. “It was just too much. I think people who don’t play sports don’t understand that. You get away from actually playing and you don’t realize what it takes out of you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t put those kids in that situation.”

But, timing aside, Krzyzewski had no complaints about going West after eight straight appearances in either the East or Southeast regionals.

“I think being in Salt Lake, being kind of away from everything — you know, we haven’t drawn that much attention this year anyway — so we were kind of in our own little world there and there wasn’t the media rush or anything like that on us,” he said. “When we’re in the East, a lot of time you’re here too long. People want something from you all the time and so now you’ve got an excuse: ‘Hey, I’ve got to go catch a plane. Sorry, see you next week.’

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to tell you the same thing next week: ‘We’ve got to catch another plane.”’

Duke, the No. 3 seed in the power-packed West Regional, won’t have an easy time earning a flight to the Final Four in New Orleans. To get there, the Devils will have to upend No. 2-seed Kansas, then beat either No. 1-seed Arizona or No 5-seed Notre Dame.

Krzyzewski’s focus is on the Big 12 champion Jayhawks.

“They’re a great team,” he said. “I really felt — and I said it at the beginning so I’m not just saying it now — I thought they would be a No. 1 seed. Winning their league, which is not a bad league … it’s going to be tough. But at least we’re playing them.”

Krzyzewski got a close look at Kansas seniors Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich three years ago, when the Blue Devils survived a second-round game with Kansas in Winston-Salem.

“Collison, we recruited,” Krzyzewski said. “I love that kid. I think he’s the best player in the country. He’s been a great college player. Then Hinrich is right there with him. They have that nice tandem with some veteran players to go along with them and with Roy’s coaching … I better stop talking about them.”

A Duke victory over the Jayhawks wouldn’t take a miracle on the order of the 1983 Wolfpack. But Duke’s long road to the Final Four clearly is longer and tougher than the Devils are used to.