‘White Lotus’ Duke Basketball Meme Goes Viral Just in Time for March Madness

As the 2025 NCAA Tournament gets underway, the hit show White Lotus has delivered a Duke basketball meme that’s sure to make the rounds during March Madness.

The Duke Blue Devils celebrated their victory in the 2025 ACC Conference Championship game against the Louisville Cardinals.

The tournament officially kicks off with the First Four on Tuesday, March 18, with St. Francis (PA) and Alabama State competing for the chance to become the No. 16 seed and face No. 1 overall seed Auburn in the opening round.

On Wednesday, March 19, Mount St. Mary’s and American University will vie for the chance to challenge second-seed Duke.

As always, when March Madness arrives, social media fills with Blue Devil jokes, especially after any early-round exit. The winner of Mount St. Mary’s vs. American will inevitably become “America’s Team.”

On Selection Sunday, White Lotus introduced a Duke meme sure to surface throughout the tournament.

The meme features Jason Isaacs’ character, Timothy Ratliff, pointing a gun to his head while wearing a Duke t-shirt.

Ratliff, a Duke graduate on the show, is now the face of a meme that will haunt real-life Duke grads or fans if the Blue Devils fail to meet expectations this March.

The meme quickly went viral after the episode aired, accumulating over 56,000 likes and three million views.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips hands the championship trophy to Duke head coach Jon Scheyer after the Blue Devils’ win in the 2025 ACC Conference Championship game.

It remains to be seen how soon this meme will appear during the tournament, but it’s almost certain to surface once Duke hits any roadblocks in their games.

Duke will play the winner of Mount St. Mary’s and American University on Friday, March 21, at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, with tip-off set for 2:50 p.m. ET.