This is interesting, I would also like to see the average seed of other past champions not just duke.
I was bored at work so, as always, i started searching random Duke anything. I found out that this Duke team, in the 2010 tournament, played the highest average seed opponent than any other Duke national title team.
2010: Average seed of six opponents: 6.3
2001: Average seed of six opponents: 6.6
1992: Average seed of six opponents: 6.5
1991: Average seed of six opponents: 6.8
Just thought this was interesting, especially since we beat pretty much everyone handily, with the exception of Butler, and I guess Baylor.
This is interesting, I would also like to see the average seed of other past champions not just duke.
Since 1985:
2010 38 6.33 Duke ( 16 . 8 . 4 . 3 . 2 . 5 )
2009 35 5.83 North Carolina ( 16 . 8 . 4 . 2 . 3 . 2 )
2008 48 8.00 Kansas ( 16 . 8 . 12 . 10 . 1 . 1 )
2007 36 6.00 Florida ( 16 . 9 . 5 . 3 . 2 . 1 )
2006 46 7.67 Florida ( 14 . 11 . 7 . 1 . 11 . 2 )
2005 42 7.00 North Carolina ( 16 . 9 . 5 . 6 . 5 . 1 )
2004 40 6.67 Connecticut ( 15 . 7 . 6 . 8 . 1 . 3 )
2003 34 5.67 Syracuse ( 14 . 6 . 10 . 1 . 1 . 2 )
2002 36 6.00 Maryland ( 16 . 8 . 4 . 2 . 1 . 5 )
2001 40 6.67 Duke ( 16 . 9 . 4 . 6 . 3 . 2 )
2000 43 7.17 Michigan State ( 16 . 8 . 4 . 2 . 8 . 5 )
1999 45 7.50 Connecticut ( 16 . 9 . 5 . 10 . 4 . 1 )
1998 38 6.33 Kentucky ( 15 . 10 . 6 . 1 . 3 . 3 )
1997 38 6.33 Arizona ( 13 . 12 . 1 . 10 . 1 . 1 )
1996 36 6.00 Kentucky ( 16 . 9 . 4 . 2 . 1 . 4 )
1995 37 6.17 UCLA ( 16 . 8 . 5 . 2 . 4 . 2 )
1994 44 7.33 Arkansas ( 16 . 9 . 12 . 3 . 2 . 2 )
1993 33 5.50 North Carolina ( 16 . 8 . 4 . 2 . 2 . 1 )
1992 39 6.50 Duke ( 16 . 9 . 4 . 2 . 2 . 6 )
1991 41 6.83 Duke ( 15 . 7 . 11 . 4 . 1 . 3 )
1990 54 9.00 UNLV ( 16 . 8 . 12 . 11 . 4 . 3 )
1989 36 6.00 Michigan ( 14 . 11 . 2 . 5 . 1 . 3 )
1988 39 6.50 Kansas ( 11 . 14 . 7 . 4 . 2 . 1 )
1987 42 7.00 Indiana ( 16 . 8 . 5 . 10 . 1 . 2 )
1986 45 7.50 Louisville ( 15 . 7 . 3 . 8 . 11 . 1 )
1985 20 3.33 Villanova ( 9 . 1 . 5 . 2 . 2 . 1 )
I was surprised at Arizona not being higher, considering they beat 3 #1 seeds but now I see.
So we're tied for 9th out of 26. (1 being hardest schedule)
I'm assuming the chance this mitigates any of the complaints that Duke was 'handed' the tournament is somewhere around 0%...
Even with this type of list, the majority of people won't care and will just keep on with the common misconception of Duke had an easy path.
JBDuke
Andre Dawkins: People ask me if I can still shoot, and I ask them if they can still breathe. Thats kind of the same thing.
The higher your seed the lower your net number tends to be because of the seeding structure.
Hah! UNLV was HANDED the title in 1990. They must have really SUCKED!
The above statement, coming from a Duke fan who's team was spanked by 30 points by that UNLV squad, is just about as rational as the exact same comment being made by UNC fans about the Duke 2010 team, after we spanked their butts by 32 points. But, nonetheless, the UNC fans around here are chanting their mantra over and over again, hoping that somehow it will become true...
Two other things jumped out at me. The first is that, for all of the talk by local fans of the hated Heels that Duke's path was so easy, Duke played the exact same seeds on their way to the final that the hated Heels did in 2009 (i.e., 16, 8, 4, 3, 2 for Duke and 16, 8, 4, 2, 3 for the Heels) - the only difference was Duke playing a 5 in the final vs. a 2 for them.
The second is how rarely the champ ends up beating more than one No. 1 seed. Arizona in '97 beat three (the only time this has happened), but the only others are Syracuse '03 and Kansas '08 (which is the only time that all four No. 1s made the FF, and the only time that a No. 1 had to beat more than one other No. 1). And eight different times since 1985 the champ has avoided a No. 1 seed entirely (including Duke this year). So a lot of this talk about an unprecedently easy path is just rubbish.
I don't think it is a "common misconception," it is just what people want to believe. You can put out all the facts you want, but if someone doesn't want to believe it they won't. That is why history is doomed to repeat itself.
Example: UNC has won 5 national titles and my come back to that is Coach K has won 4. They are correct, UNC has won / been awarded 5 national titles and I'm correct that Coach K has won 4 national titles. They believe the 5 titles makes UNC better and I believe the 4 Coach K titles makes him better.
Bi-partisan people would say both of these statements are winning arguments but I don't. Its because of what I believe in and no matter how many times they say it, 4 > 5 in this case.
Indoor66 says: "The higher your seed the lower your net number tends to be because of the seeding structure."
I am not sure that is right.
For a #1 seed, the lowest possible seeding average is 5.5, which would reflect always playing the highest possible seed. For a #2 seed, the lowest possible is 4.6. For a 16 seed, the lowest possible is 2.83.
Am I missing something?
I did some research on the teams seeded in each bracket this year. The average RPI at the end of season for each #1 seed was as follows (I think, I did this yesterday, laughed and threw my scrap sheet away):
Duke: 12.5
Kentucky: 10.75
Syracuse: 14.5
Kansas: 20.75
After laughing at how "easy" we had it and how much the committee screwed Kansas I looked at the next big claim. That they stuck a weak Cal team in our region; well of the possible 8/9 seeds that a #1 could have faced in round two. Cal was by far the best with a 19 RPI. The next closest was Texas at 28 but they lost.
People will talk as they will, but in one comments forum I posted this question. Why? Why would the selection committee favor us? There are no Duke alumni there, so unless the spouse of every person on the selection team went to Duke there is no reason for them to give us an easy path. Furthermore, the Wake AD is on there. Given that both schools are recruiting from roughly the same pool (I'll spare the academic debate between the two). Why would he want to give Duke and "easy" title. Why would the big east or big 12 commissioners want to make Duke look good? It just doesn't make sense.
Don't get me started on the Duke gets all the calls claim. Why if K is so mean and berates officials and screams at them would they acquiesce to his requests for calls? The only reason can be that ALL officials went to Duke, ALL their spouses went to Duke or ALL officials have the character of a dog or small child. Yell at them and they well look away and do as their told. It is ridiculous...okay. I'm done, we won. There is no changing the whining of the masses, so I wont bother.
One last thing, after the win we are sitting in bed and I'm talking to the wife about the claims people were going to make. I said to her, "They say Duke fans are smug, I don't even know what that means. Is it because if a drunk guy in a bar tries to start a fight with me over a basketball game I'll just laugh at him then walk away?". She said, "No, it's because you guys kicked his teams I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.. Then you laughed at how childish he was and will walk away". I said," I like being smug, that means we win."
Well, the answer to "why" is that Duke sells. So CBS (concerned with getting good ratings) and the NCAA (also interested in selling their product) had it in their best interest to make sure Duke had an easy path. I'm not saying that I believe this to be true (I don't), but that's the argument you'll hear when you ask "why."
As a general rule though, there's usually not a point in having a logic discussion with conspiracy theorists.
Again I ask Why. Is the NCAA then giving kick backs to the schools or conferences in return for them ignoring the facts and giving Duke an easy ride. I know it's a pointless conversation and I think that is my point. It just makes no sense at all, how can even the dumbest person think it's true?