Andy Staples, an SI.com college hoops writer posted an article earlier about a mock selection process (read it here) but I stopped reading after the first paragraph:
INDIANAPOLIS -- Before our group of 20 media members and conference officials arrived at the NCAA's mock selection exercise last week, we each received a binder stocked with vital information. Among the topics covered:
• How to ensure the most Big East teams make the NCAA tournament.
• How to give Duke the easiest path to the Final Four.
• How to make backroom deals so the school each athletic director represents makes the tourney.
I'm kidding, of course.
At first I thought he WASN'T kidding because if you've ever had a conversation with me that was longer than five seconds, you'd know how much I hate Duck and the blatantly obvious media bias toward them. In fact, Katie and I have a running joke that Duke could lose every single game and they'd still be No. 1 in both polls. And Coach K looks like a weasel - like actually a weasel. Like everything about him is weasel-y (is that a word?) just like everything about Rick Pitino is lizard-like.
Anyway - for the longest time, I couldn't figure out why I hated Duke so much. Then, Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com kind of nailed why (for me, at least):
But why did Duke -- with the exact same coach and the same type of players -- go from loved to despised?
My theories:
One, Dick Vitale. ESPN has always been the tail wagging the dog in college basketball, and Vitale is the rattle at the end of that tail. Vitale loves Duke and Coach K, and he won't shut up about it. Doesn't matter if he's calling a Duke game or a non-Duke game. He talks about Duke, and he talks glowingly, and people are tired of it.
(Read the entire article here)
I never LOVED Duke but I went from zero to hatred it .7 seconds and could never figure out why. But it's Vitale and the media in general singing their praises - Duke & UNC and no one else exists. Am I wrong?
No one loves March Madness more than I do (okay, I'm sure LOTS of people do) and no one is more biased towards Villanova than I am (right, Brian?), but after watching that soul-sucking loss to Syracuse just now, I don't see how we make it past the first weekend of the tournament regardless of seeding or the region we wind up in.
Yes I'm probably being over dramatic but I just don't think I can handle another late season collapse.
I'll leave the more analytical breakdown to people who know what they're talking about over at VUHoops.com. All I hope for is that they find their shot, perimeter defense, free-throw shooting, and everything else that propelled them to the Final Four in 2009. Guess I won't be booking my flight to Houston, just yet.
