Duke came out on Thursday night in the Sweet 16 and did what they’ve done best lately in the tourney — they lost early. Yes, Duke got hammered 77-54 by Villanova, a loss that was so bad it managed to make UCLA look semi-decent. The Dukies shot 16/60, only 27% from the field, and an even more pathetic 19% from 3-point land. That makes it five straight years the vaunted Blue Devils haven’t been able to escape the Sweet 16. Yes, that means Duke hasn’t won more than two games in the tourney since ‘03-’04. The Blue Devils are totally overrated and they showed it once again. I’m just trying to figure out what was more overrated this year — Duke, or the ACC.
Sure, you can tell me that Duke had an off night, the kind that can happen to any team. But I was saying it from the start that a team reliant on three point shooting can go cold at any point and be doomed. Conversely, Pitt hasn’t played its best but still advanced because of great rebounding and timely clutch shots. Duke did have solid non-conference wins at Purdue and at Xavier, but the Blue Devils showed that they were just like every other ACC team — overrated. Clemson, Wake Forest, and Florida State were all middle of the pack conference teams, just like the ones in the Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, etc. Because of the hype surrounding the conference, they got higher seeds and higher rankings than they deserved.
Now the ACC is down to one team standing — UNC. The Heels have even been overrated, considering people made it seem as if they were the best college basketball team ever, able to drop 100 on anyone at any time. They’re no doubt that they’re a good team and potentially our national champions, but as good as they were made out to be, they shouldn’t have lost four games. So once again Duke got high rankings and high seeds all throughout the year. Once again, the Blue Devils proved they couldn’t get it done in crunch time. When will they stop getting the benefit of the doubt? When will Dukie V. see the light?
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More Hot Stories at larrybrownsports.comThis entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 and is filed under College Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Same story, new year. Duke loses games to good teams and still manages to stay ranked in the top 10. Theyhaven’t beaten a good seed since 2001. Maybe these so-called experts who keep propping them up will turn on them next year.
Duke is to College Basketball what Notre Dame is to College Football. I never understood why everyone props these teams up every year, no matter how good or bad they are.
Coach K was mad at President Obama for picking Duke to lose in the Elite Eight. That looks pretty good to a Duke fan long about now. Good Riddance.
So, I guess that means every 1 and 2 seed that lost in the sweet 16 was overrated. Duke got out played and they lost. You have a team you root for? How are they rated? I don’t understand why people put down teams with college players, who just want to play the game. Whether it’s jealousy or just an outright hatred for Duke, that was a very impartial and sound article. Keep up the good work, clown.