OT: No longer a surprise when a small school beats Duke
Hilarious and interesting viewpoint on how small schools can succeed against the mighty.
http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2014/03/duke_mercer_why…
Guy on far right is about to cry
I think Bobby Hurley did it, too.
March 22nd, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
The curse of Capel?
Since Coach K rescued him from unemployment three years ago, Duke is just 3-3 in the tourney, with two awful first-round losses (to #15 and #14 seeds, respectively).
Maybe that program is getting a little inbred - all three of K's assistants are his former players (Nate James being the other one).
As happy as I was to see Duke go down, I try to keep myself restrained so I don't say something to piss off the anti-hubris gods; particularly when my team plays tomorrow.
Being superstitious is a bad way to go through life.
The combination of losing to 15 seed Lehigh and 14 seed Mercer in the last 3 tournaments has to be worse than The Horror, right?
Not at all. The Horror is above every other upset I can think of
March 21st, 2014 at 10:52 PM ^
#16 Coastal Carolina is leading #1 Virginia at the half.
No 16 has ever beaten a 1.
While we wait for college basketball’s powers that be to invent a new March Madness structure, one that allows Duke to suffer a devastating defeat, advance to the next round, then lose again in a never-ending cycle of shame, this is the best we can hope for.
That was a pretty entertaining read, and I agree with him here - what he describes above needs to happen one day, preferably in a bracket where Duke is awash in representatives from mid-majors and smaller conferences.
I like the outro:
"So long as Duke gets humiliated three times more often than it reigns victorious, I think we can all agree that college basketball is working beautifully."
about how those awful small schools didn't deserve their spots over more ACC schools.
Avoiding Shame.
"We're Indiana Duke. We don't play in the CBI NCAA's.
March 21st, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^
Avoiding Shame:
March 21st, 2014 at 11:24 PM ^
Is the woman behind them sending some psychic mind rays or what.
They should win...by a lot.
From the Cal Poly side...you won't win much scoring less than 30 a game.
They would be a 4-5 seed at best if they would have lost just 1 game...
March 22nd, 2014 at 12:44 AM ^
It seems pretty obvious that "for real" here means more than "would place fairly high in the B1G". I get everyone knocking the schedule, and tourneys are fluky, but they were a pretty good team last year (9 seed) and made the Final 4. And didn't they bring back everyone from that team? Obviously they wouldn't have gone undefeated in a stronger conference, and you might not think they're the best, but I think it's crazy for someone to say they're not for real (i.e., strong NC contenders).
March 21st, 2014 at 10:01 PM ^
Absolutely true that teams beating top-ranked programs like Duke are no longer "out-of-nowhere" upsets. There is a clear pattern and formula for beating any team; shoot really well and force them to keep up. Either that, or have some weird collection of really good, older players and just wear down your opposition.
March 21st, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^
Mercer didn't really come out of nowhere. They beat Florida Gulf Coast in their conference tourney final last week. All Mercer starters are seniors.
March 21st, 2014 at 11:54 PM ^
"DICKIE V IS OFFICIALLY ON SUICIDE WATCH BABY"-Dick Vitale
when saw that upset come to fruition.
March 21st, 2014 at 11:48 PM ^
at second-tier programs can now be competitive with elite programs with lots of one- or two-and-done players. In other words, can non-elite but very experienced talent be competitive with more highly-talented programs whose best players never stay long enough to become seniors?