Is it time to root for Duke? What the Devil is going on?

Hate Mail: Another lovefest in the bag

Is it time to root for Duke? Not me, of course. I'm not asking for my sake if it's time to root for Duke. I'm asking for, let's say, a friend. And I'm asking for you.

Is it time for you to root for Duke? Is that even possible?

It hasn't been possible for years. I realize that. Duke has been college basketball's coldly corporate empire for two decades or more, starting with its back-to-back national championships in 1991 and '92 -- or maybe even earlier, with its trips to the Final Four in 1986, '88, '89 and '90. And then with those NCAA titles in 1991 and '92.

Duke has become the establishment. The Man. And most people love to hate on The Man. If that includes you, everything you know about Duke basketball can be summed up in two short sentences: Duke always wins. And you hate Duke.

But now, entering the 2010 NCAA tournament, the time feels right for a major shift. The time feels right for you, I mean. Not for me. But maybe you've noticed that Duke's best players are likeable, even sympathetic figures. And that the Duke coach is an Olympic hero. And that these likeable, sympathetic players and that Olympic hero coach have come together to produce one of the more overachieving seasons in college basketball.

All of that is true, and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. Assuming I liked Duke enough to fight for the Blue Devils. Which I do not. But if I did ... I'd tell you it's all true.

First of all, the players. The star is Jon Scheyer, and he's one of the biggest cartoons in college basketball. Everything he does, every facial expression he has, is a laugh riot. He contorts his face like Jim Carrey, only he's not trying to be funny. That hasn't stopped the world from laughing, though. All around the ACC, opposing fan bases have done testimonials to the wonder that is the ScheyerFace.

Jon Scheyer and Coach K are making Duke easier to love. (US Presswire)

Meanwhile, Scheyer is about to score his 2,000th point. Shocking, right? This poor guy, who has been abused since he reported to Duke -- he's not J.J. Redick, and look at his face! -- has 1,934 points. He averages nearly 20 per game, so he'll get to 2,000 if Duke wins just once in the ACC tournament and then once more in the NCAA tournament. And since Duke will be a No. 1 seed in both tournaments (probably), that's a lock. Jon Scheyer, 2,000 points. Incredible. I'd be thrilled for him, if I were wired to be thrilled for a Duke player. Which I'm not.

Duke's second-best (college) player is Kyle Singler, who stands 6-feet-8 and has never been allowed to settle into the position he was born to play, the position he will play in the NBA. When he first got to Duke he had to play center all the time because the team was too small, and now he has to play guard a lot of the time because the team is too big. In the NBA he'll be a small forward every second of every day. Has Singler complained? Nope. Nor has he stomped on an opposing player's chest or smoked dope in his dorm room or flopped like a fish or done any of the things Duke players have done over the years to earn our enmity. Singler just plays, and plays hard. I might like him -- if I weren't so programmed to dislike Duke.

The third member of Duke's star triumvirate, Nolan Smith, is the son of former NBA player Derek Smith. When Nolan was 8, his daddy died. The one time I tried to talk to him about his father, more than a decade later, Nolan Smith cried into a towel. Heart-breaking. And I'm supposed to root against Nolan Smith? You try.

As for Coach K, he's the guy who led the previously under-achieving U.S. men's basketball team to the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. Afterward, Coach K's first road game for Duke was at Purdue. When he walked onto a visiting floor for the first time since helping our country reclaim the gold medal, the Purdue crowd ... booed. I was there. Made me feel bad for the guy, it really did.

But this isn't about me, it's about you. It's about whether you think it's time to root for the Duke dynasty. Would it change things to know that this isn't really a Duke dynasty? Check the record book. Duke hasn't won a title in nine years. Hasn't been to an Elite Eight since 2004. Has reached the Sweet 16 just once in the last three years. If you've disliked Duke because it's too good, you can stop. Because those days are gone.

And this Duke team doesn't count, because it's not all that good either. Duke enters conference tournament week as the leading contender for the fourth No. 1 seed -- Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse should be locks -- but that's not because the Blue Devils are loaded. They're not. Don't quote me statistics about their McDonald's All-Americans, because Duke forward Lance Thomas was a McDonald's All-American and he averages 5.0 ppg as a senior. Duke freshmen Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly were McDonald's All-Americans. They average 5.5 ppg -- combined.

This Duke team may well be loaded with McDonald's All-Americans, but it's not loaded with NBA talent. And it's not loaded with something basketball experts call "guards." Duke has three of them. Three. That's all. There's Scheyer. There's Smith. And there's Andre Dawkins, who at this time last year was a high school junior. Duke needed guards so badly that Dawkins graduated a year ahead of schedule, and here he is with 37 points in the last 17 games. Because he's not ready.

So with three guards on roster, one of them who should be in high school, Duke is 26-5. That's crazy. That's almost charismatic -- if you were inclined to find Duke basketball charismatic. Which of course I'm not.

Right?