Number 1 Gets Toppled

OK lets get this out of the way right away, I HATE Duke.  I think they are over-rated, arrogant, assholes that get too much credit every year. 

Now that that's out of the way lets get to the topic at hand.  Duke got beat by an unranked and struggling Florida State team last night.  FSU led nearly the entire game and Duke really never made it interesting until the last five minutes. 

Duke will win the ACC and probably get a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but WHY? What have they done?  Sure, they've been crushing opponents, but they don't play anybody.  Literally, they don't play anybody.  If you look at the Blue Devils' schedule it is absolutely pathetic.  As we sit right now they have just three ranked teams on their schedule (Kansas State, Michigan State, and Temple) and they have played them all at home.  To make it even more pathetic, in Duke's first 16 games they have only played two games at an opponents home arena (they have left Cameron Indoor 6 times but 4 of those were neutral sites and not really true road games). 

Andy Katz of ESPN had this to say on Twitter:

"Quite a night: FSU gets signature win it desperately needed over Duke (hey a true road game)"

I honestly think that Coach K (yes, I hate him too) has made a big mistake with his scheduling.  Deep tournament runs aren't built on blowout wins at home.  They are made by playing tough games in tough arenas. 

Obviously I am biased towards Michigan State and Tom Izzo but lets look at the stats.  Izzo has been to 6 Final Fours in the last 12 years; a record that no other coach can come close to.  How has he done it?  He's done it by challenging the Spartans with an unbelievably tough schedule every single year.  They are always going out and playing top teams.  Sure, they might lose a few of these games but it builds toughness and experience that is needed in March.  Every single year the Spartans lose a few games early, drop in the rankings, get seeded somewhere around 3-6, and then proceed to "surprise" everyone by making a deep run in the tournament.  The MSU program is a testament to what Tom Izzo knows and everyone else needs to figure out: you don't have success in March by playing cupcakes all year long.  Maybe the most amazing stat I have ever heard in my life; every single player that has stayed all four years under Tom Izzo has gone to at least one Final Four.

ESPN needs to step aside and really take a look at the Duke team this year (especially after the loss of Kyrie Irving).  I'm already penciling them in for an early exit come tournament time, unless of course the committee hands them their usual cupcake bracket.