[El Scorcho]

Congrats to the Tarheels on their first L of the season. Hansbrough really showed his leadership and clutch skills tonight.

[SuperJon]

I didn't watch it and I'm not going to claim I did. I was preoccupied tonight.

I will say that I didn't think UNC would win the preseason NIT. They're way too young with way too many need players. I'm not a typical UNC fan in that I think UNC will lose 5-6 games this year, especially early, and won't peak until the end of the year. I've said the same thing about Dook as well (ask JDUB, we talked about it one night).

[JDUB]

this is true. Jon isn't one of those super annoying unc fans. he actually sees things like they are. most of the time

[jmdickens]

jon, our boys got outplayed, outhustled, outcoached......Kinda similar to games played by our men's team

[Fumblerooskies]

Gonzaga always plays well in these early tournaments. Last year they had a classic game against Michigan State in one of them.

[givemethemic]

I don't blame Tyler, as a die-hard heel I was not happy that Tyler only took 2 shots in the first half.. I must say that Coach when he went to that 4 guard offense that it made things for the Heels... As good as we are going to be we still have 11 freshmen and sophs... but we will be there making a run for the title come March

[Fumblerooskies]

As good as we are going to be we still have 11 freshmen and sophs... but we will be there making a run for the title come March

WE? You have a mouse in your pocket?
I had no idea you played for them in a addition to your LU and WLNI duties. That is a very impressive piece of multi-tasking.

[JDUB]

.. but we will be there making a run for the title come March

all i have to say about unc in march is CHOKE. they won't make it to the final four.

[jmdickens]

duke is the best at choking in march. Jwilliams, JJRedick, doesn't matter

[El Scorcho]

duke is the best at choking in march.

At least they're consistently playing in March.

[jmdickens]

what 6 straight sweet 16's. That is nothing. They play the 64th best team in the country, then play the 32. Then they choke, not at all impressive.

[El Scorcho]

what 6 straight sweet 16's. That is nothing.

I know plenty of schools (ahem) that'd be just fine with 6 straight sweet 16's. And all #1 seeds always make the Final Four, right? Always.

No, instead Duke is 5th All-Time for NCAA Championships (3), third all-time for Final Four appearances (14) and third all-time for NCAA victories (85). They are not, however, in the top 5 for tournament appearances. Which leads us to the math...

The top five schools for tournament appearances, in order, are Kentucky (46), North Carolina (37), UCLA (36), Kansas (34) and Indiana (32). If we're using the Final Four as the standard for labeling teams that "choke" then we also have to look at the top five Final Four schools (in order): North Carolina (16), UCLA (16), Duke (14), Kentucky (13) and Kansas (12). Simple math tells us that the biggest tournament chokers are (in order):

1. Indiana - 75% choke rate
2. Kentucky - 72% choke rate
3. Kansas - 65% choke rate
4. UNC - 57% choke rate
5. UCLA - 56% choke rate

And in the interest of full disclosure, Duke has had 30 NCAA Tourney appearances, which would give them a 53% choke rate.

Now, if we use actual tournament winning percentage, the top five are (again, in order): Duke (85-27, .759), UCLA (85-30, .739), UNC (89-37, .706), Kentucky (97-42, .701) and UNLV (30-13, .698).

So, no, Duke is not the best at "choking" in March, no matter how you slice it.

[kel varson]

Duke has the choking reputation because they are always picked to be in the final four. They are usually a very high seed 1 or 2 and many people pick them to win the whole thing. Their regular season consistency of outstanding seasons has given many expections they are unable to fulfill. As good as they have been, one would think they would have 4 or 5 NCAA championships.