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The White Lotus meme was everywhere after Duke's shocking Final Four collapse

The White Lotus meme was everywhere after Duke's shocking Final Four collapse

Yahoo06-04-2025
The White Lotus meme was everywhere after Duke's shocking Final Four collapse
Editor's note: The following story contains some violent imagery. Reader's discretion advised.
Duke men's basketball suffered an absolutely outrageous loss in Saturday night's 2025 men's Final Four game in San Antonio, and the internet... was ready.
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Right after No. 1 seed Duke's shocking collapse late in the contest to No. 1 seed Houston, fans took to social media to post a very dark photo from the third season of The White Lotus. The meme features Jason Isaac's Timothy Ratliff, a Duke fan, looking... very, very sad ... in a Duke shirt as he deals with a self-made crisis while vacationing with his family in Thailand.
The university hasn't been thrilled with the show using Duke apparel due to the nature of Ratliff's dilemma and how morbid some of the scenes have been with Ratliff in said Duke apparel.
However, Duke's jaw-dropping defeat had folks using these White Lotus memes to perfectly sum up the mood.
It's going to be a very long offseason for Duke fans.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Duke's stunning Final Four collapse sparked perfect White Lotus memes
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