All of Orange Nation has mourned since Thursday night when Syracuse fell to Butler.
If you were rooting for swift justice for the Bulldogs, forget it. Butler validated its Orange upset by doing the exact same thing to Kansas State in the Elite Eight.
Even worse? This magical season – which carried buckets of good mojo – advanced exactly as far as the unlikeable (outside of Jonny Ice) ’08-’09 squad.
But what happened next was also rather strange.
Of all the bitching and moaning fans made (including us) about Duke not deserving the third overall top seed, the Blue Devils end up being the only one-seed dancing to the Final Four.
Kansas? Didn’t even make it to the Sweet 16. Kentucky? Couldn’t get a shot to drop in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse? Didn’t wake up for Brad Stevens.
Of the three other one seeds, would any team have pissed you off more than Duke making it? This doesn’t seem right. These guys were supposed to be¬†unathletic!
Sure, they didn’t get defense like Butler, and they didn’t have an Ali Farokhmanesh making it rain.
But they did beat a Baylor team who many had advancing to the Final Four (and who one Fizzster lost a lot of money off).
And apparently, nobody is telling Coach K to¬†retire anytime soon.(Mariotti’s a joke; Viva el Per’fesser.)
This was supposed to be a bridge year to the class of 2010. But right now it’s hard to take any solace in that.
The Orange got beat by a mid-major, advanced just as far as last year’s club, and we have one more week of Duke hype. Ugh.
(Photo credit: Richard Carson, Rueters
