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Welcome to two of the greatest days in sports – the opening round of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament.
There’s really nothing like these two days – games from basically noon ET until you fall asleep on the couch and wake up to see there’s still a game out west being played on a random channel that you only watch a few times a year.
There’s upsets and buzzer-beaters and gambling, oh my!
But there’s something else that happens that seems to bring just about everyone together – cheering against Duke.
If you’ve ever logged on to Twitter then you’ve probably noticed that everybody disagrees about everything and are pretty passionate about all the topics, no matter how little they might know about any of the subjects.
But that all changes once Duke gets in a close tournament game. Everyone starts becoming friends and rooting for the common good – for Duke to lose and to look sad while walking off the court after being upset and sent packing for the year.
It’s wild, really. Strangers on social media agreeing on things and being supportive of each other and then celebrating together once it’s over before going back to attacking each other over mostly stupid things.
This year will be even more intense/special as it’s Mike Krzyzewski’s final run as head coach of the Blue Devils. While Duke fans and alums are hoping for one last championship run for their legendary coach, all the other college fans want to see Coach K lose as early as possible, because that will only make things even sweeter than just your normal Duke tournament loss.
What’s with all the hate towards Duke? Well, Coach K has been really successful over the years, winning five national titles and seemingly always being in contention. You know how it is in sports – the more success you have the more hate is going to come your way. It’s just the way it is. Jealousy is a hell of a drug. Also, their fans can be annoying, which makes other fans so happy when they get to see sad Duke fans after losses.
Duke is a No. 2 seed in the West this year and don’t play until it faces Cal State Fullerton tomorrow at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Blue Devils should win that game but if they don’t then the internet will likely break. If they do win the game then there’s a good chance they’ll face Michigan State in the second round, which would be a juicy matchup between two legendary coaches – Coach K and Tom Izzo – who have battled against each other in the tournament before.
Gonzaga is the No. 1 seed in the West and if Duke has to play the Zags then suddenly everyone is going to love the Zags. That’s just how it goes.
Enjoy these next two days and enjoy the rest of the tournament and enjoy rooting against Duke, because things are likely going to feel different for everyone next year when Coach K isn’t on the sidelines anymore. Ok, maybe not that different but probably a little different.
And start learning about the guys on that Fullerton team. They could be heroes Friday night. At least for one day.
Quick hits: 15 must-watch NBA prospects in NCAA tournament… Ranking all 68 teams by their mascots… College players who have seemingly been around forever… And more.
– Mike Sykes breaks down the 15 must-watch NBA prospects playing in the NCAA tournament, leading with Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren.
– My friend Charles Curtis ranked all 68 tournament teams by their mascots and the No. 1 mascot on this list is pretty amazing.
– Robert Zeglinski looks at 12 March Madness stars who feel like they have been playing college basketball for so long.
– Need some betting advice for the tournament? My friends at BetFTW have you covered with everything you’ll need to know to have some success.
– Need help with today’s Wordle? Charles Curtis has got you covered.
