New No. 1 Most Hated Team?

[hurleyfor3]

That's a stupid list, generated by some intern at SI.com to generate discussion and attention to the site. It doesn't even purport to be based on any actual input from haters. Ignore.

They got the year wrong on unlv. The '91 team had a far higher profile and was far more disliked than in 1990. The '90 team lost five games and didn't even get the final AP #1 ranking (Oklahoma did).

As for us, I would have put 2006 Duke way ahead of 1992 Duke.

[Big Pappa]

As for us, I would have put 2006 Duke way ahead of 1992 Duke.

Agreed. Here is an article about the top 10 most hated Duke players of all-time, written this past March, that I ran across:

http://www.complex.com/blogs/2010/03...ers-from-duke/

JJ is the obvious #1.

[4decadedukie]

We have a bigger bullseye on our backs because almost every single game of ours is on national TV.

I agree, and would respectfully add:
1) A program that is frequently extolled by broadcasters and the media (sometimes irrationally so – “the Dickie V factor”);
2) An elite, academically most selective, beautiful, wealthy, and private university, with ever enhancing stature and with growing perceptions of success, affluence, privilege, influence and exclusivity;
3) A head coach who is a world-class proven winner and leader, but certainly not an “aw shucks” common personality type;
4) A fanatical student body that not only pillories opponents, but is also repeated extolled as America’s future physicians, attorneys, investment bankers, leaders, and so forth;
5) A combined “too good to be liked” compilation - team, fellow students, program, coaches, enduring hoops successes, university, alumni, etc. - that is not easily identified with by “Joe six-pack.”

With all this said, I suspect none of this really matters much. Those who like and/or respect Duke will continue to, and those who - for no rational reason(s) - do not, will not.

[ndkjr70]

Agreed. Here is an article about the top 10 most hated Duke players of all-time, written this past March, that I ran across:

http://www.complex.com/blogs/2010/03...ers-from-duke/

JJ is the obvious #1.

I don't think that article could have been more disgusting, narrow-minded, or racist of the author (and I use that term very loosely) had really tried.

[CLT Devil]

Other than the UNLV team and the '86 'Canes just about every team on this list is hated because of jealousy. Those two teams were bad for their respective sports; UNLV and its shadiness in contacts with shady people, and the Hurricanes for their crotch-grabbing, junk-talking ways.

Other than those two (and of course everyone will have their own personal reasons to hate individually some teams on that list) it all comes down to the teams who made the list likely beat your team, badly, and thus brings the jealousy...then the hatred.

I love it. And as someone earlier said...I want to be #1, even on this list. Means we must be doing something right, no?

[duke79]

I agree, and would respectfully add:
1) A program that is frequently extolled by broadcasters and the media (sometimes irrationally so – “the Dickie V factor”);
2) An elite, academically most selective, beautiful, wealthy, and private university, with ever enhancing stature and with growing perceptions of success, affluence, privilege, influence and exclusivity;
3) A head coach who is a world-class proven winner and leader, but certainly not an “aw shucks” common personality type;
4) A fanatical student body that not only pillories opponents, but is also repeated extolled as America’s future physicians, attorneys, investment bankers, leaders, and so forth;
5) A combined “too good to be liked” compilation - team, fellow students, program, coaches, enduring hoops successes, university, alumni, etc. - that is not easily identified with by “Joe six-pack.”

With all this said, I suspect none of this really matters much. Those who like and/or respect Duke will continue to, and those who - for no rational reason(s) - do not, will not.

Nice analysis, 4decade. I think you have hit the reasons for "Duke hating" right on the head. Despite the Duke hating that is out there, I've NEVER had to apologize to anyone for having a Duke degree (two in my case, undergrad and law school).

[RoyalBlue08]

I agree, and would respectfully add:
1) A program that is frequently extolled by broadcasters and the media (sometimes irrationally so – “the Dickie V factor”);
2) An elite, academically most selective, beautiful, wealthy, and private university, with ever enhancing stature and with growing perceptions of success, affluence, privilege, influence and exclusivity;
3) A head coach who is a world-class proven winner and leader, but certainly not an “aw shucks” common personality type;
4) A fanatical student body that not only pillories opponents, but is also repeated extolled as America’s future physicians, attorneys, investment bankers, leaders, and so forth;
5) A combined “too good to be liked” compilation - team, fellow students, program, coaches, enduring hoops successes, university, alumni, etc. - that is not easily identified with by “Joe six-pack.”

With all this said, I suspect none of this really matters much. Those who like and/or respect Duke will continue to, and those who - for no rational reason(s) - do not, will not.

I know I have had this "why is Duke so hated" conversation a million times and have probably posted something on it on these boards more than once as well, but I think the "wealthy" aspect of this is probably overstated. And I doubt the average college basketball fan (that may or may not have ever even gone to college) really cares about the academic requirements of the student body. I say this because smaller schools that cost just as much to get into and are every bit the "beautiful, wealthy, and private university" that Duke is (Butler and Davidson are the examples I am thinking of) are easily adopted by "Joe six-pack" as their darling cindarellas as soon as they start winning some NCAA tournament games. Now I will admit that Butler and Davidson aren't elite academic institutions in the same sense that Duke is, but I'm not sure how many people really understand that or draw that distinction. I went to graduate school at Duke, but went to a state school as an undergrad as that was all I could afford. And I can tell you for a fact that neither me nor anyone in my family could rank for you Duke, Butler, and Davidson in any sort of meaningful academic way when I was applying to colleges. They were all just private schools I wasn't going to! But the average cousin or uncle in my family would avidly cheer for Butler or Davidson as they advance through the tournament, but would still hate on Duke (I am proud to say my immediate family now consists entirely of Duke fans!). And teams like UNLV basketball or Miami football back in the day were hated supposedly for the opposite reasons Duke is supposedly hated...that they weren't student athletes at all. I guess what I am trying to say is that the decision to be hated for winning usually comes first. Duke basketball is hated because we keep winning. All the other stuff we are supposedly hated for is just excuses. If Duke was a poor state school with Coach K dominating college basketball, we would be hated for all the stereotypical poor state school things.

If you don't believe me, ask yourself this. Suppose this year, Duke just starts winning football games and doesn't stop. Suppose we run the table in the ACC and finish the season undefeated (...stay with me!). Now suppose we are playing one of the big football powerhouses in the National Championship game...Florida, LSU, Ohio State, whomever. Who do you think the whole country will be pulling for. I bet you it is the rich kid school.

[4decadedukie]

If you don't believe me, ask yourself this. Suppose this year, Duke just starts winning football games and doesn't stop. Suppose we run the table in the ACC and finish the season undefeated (...stay with me!). Now suppose we are playing one of the big football powerhouses in the National Championship game...Florida, LSU, Ohio State, whomever. Who do you think the whole country will be pulling for. I bet you it is the rich kid school.

I agree, RoyalBlue; however, the Duke football scenario you have created really fails to capture the totality of Duke Basketball's situation. Specifically, now let's say the Duke football team you postulate just doesn't do this for one or two years, becoming a beloved "Cinderella" for a very limited period. Instead, that Duke football team is a perennial strong national contender (perhaps the ACC Champion more years than not) -- it is always on TV, it is always mentioned in the press, it is always extolled as all that is best in higher education, its students, student-athletes and coaches are invariably clean-cut, articulate, personable, and academically advanced, and so forth -- for decade after decade. I'll wager it is not "the rich kid school" (as you termed it) that receives national empathy.