Duke is No. 1 and Your School is Not
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Duke is still getting all the calls.
The Blue Devils on Monday jumped to No.1 in the Associated Press and USA Today coaches’ polls, setting off indoor fireworks in Cameron Indoor Stadium, also known as Dick Vitale’s living room.
The only important thing about Duke being No. 1 -- there may be a new top-ranked team every week until March -- is that it gives Duke haters extra incentive to boo on Wednesday when the Blue Devils visit Wake Forest.
ESPN can’t wait to broadcast the game. It was, as of Monday afternoon, billing it as No. 1 Wake Forest vs. No. 2 Duke in an ad running adjacent to the new rankings on ESPN.com.
Wake Forest, last week’s No.1, actually fell to No. 6 in the AP and No. 4 in USA Today. At 3:30 Eastern time, ESPN’ got off the poll pine and updated the promo.
Oh what fun, though, to have Duke at No.1. The people who love the Blue Devils are out-flanked only by the millions who don’t -- they are the Yankees of college basketball.
Adding intrigue to this week was the fact Duke got to the top by trouncing Maryland by 41 points, the Terrapins’ worse loss since 1963. Maryland fans basically think there is a conspiracy in Duke’s general favor and still harken to the 2001 NCAA national semifinals in Minneapolis (here’s a photo from that game).
That was the dark Saturday at the Metrodome when Maryland blew a 22-point lead and lost to Duke, with many Maryland fans thinking Duke got all the officials’ calls in the end. This thought was amplified when Maryland Coach Gary Williams slammed his fist on the scorer’s table to vent his outrage.
Duke advanced to beat Arizona in the national title game. Arizona fans thought Duke got all the calls in that one.
-- Chris Dufresne
Pop-up photo: Maryland’s Tahj Holden, center, and Mike Mardesich try to contain Duke’s Shane Battier, who nevertheless got loose for a game-high 25 points. Credit: Associated Press
