Duke has struggled mightily in the Sweet 16. Certainly it's a problem few programs even have the opportunity to sniff, but for such a pristine program that measures success in Final Fours and national championships, we have a severely disconcerting issue at hand. Not only does Duke lose in the Sweet 16 on the regular, they get embarrassed in them. Surely leaving a sour taste in their fan's mouths.

Consider that Duke has been eliminated in the Sweet 16 five times in nine years:

2009: Villanova 77-Duke 54
2006: LSU 62-Duke 54
2005: Michigan State 78-Duke 68
2003: Kansas 69-Duke 65
2002: Indiana 74-Duke 73

That is a lot. Even more bothersome if you're a Cameron Crazie, is that the Blue Devils are only 2-5 in their last seven Sweet 16 games, a stat that reeks of everything that is not elite.

"Not since 2000 had St. John's defeated a team ranked No. 3 or higher. They beat the same opponent in the same building, upsetting then-No. 2 Duke in their second season under former coach Mike Jarvis.

But that was a one-point win. This was a thrashing from start to finish, a stunner in every respect. With a national television audience watching, it served as a two-hour infomercial on the Red Storm revival."

Large, growing segments of American sports fans despise the Yankees and Duke basketball. Defenders routinely attribute the enmity to sheer jealously. Dick Vitale and many others suggest that people hate Duke for the same reason they hate the Yankees: because they win. Thanks to Derek Jeter, we now see the true common denominator.

This team had no villains. Kyle Singler wasn't Christian Laettner, stomping on players and blowing kisses to the crowd. Jon Scheyer wasn't J.J. Redick, flashing the shocker in Chapel Hill. Nolan Smith wasn't Greg Paulus, flopping on a fast break

The Indianapolis Star pulled some editions of its newspaper - and its sports editor apologized to a Blue Devils spokesman - after about 30,000 copies of the paper were delivered with a photo illustration that poked fun at the dislike of the Duke program.

On a photo of coach Mike Krzyzewski, the illustrator drew in blue ink sketch that included a bulls-eye on the forehead, horns, glasses, moles and a mustache. 'LOSE!' is inked in seven times around his neck tie.

Whatever the reason, whether it be image, history, its coach Mike Krzyzewski (long ago, he crossed over to the non-hoops crowd through his appearances in national TV commercials) or successful myth-making, Duke has a huge, loyal national following. The fact that networks covering college basketball - like CBS and ESPN - have put, and kept, Duke on a pedestal, even during lean years, has contributed to its ratings consistency.

Which, apparently, is well worth the magic carpet the selection committee has equipped Duke with.

The experts on CBS and ESPN were not at liberty Sunday night to explain to you why the NCAA Tournament selection committee treated Duke like the No. 1 overall seed rather than Kansas, the nation's best basketball team.

The explanation is simple: Duke is television ratings gold, and the NCAA is in the process of negotiating a new TV contract for its prized tournament.

CBS, the current rights holder, and ESPN, America's 24-hour national sports network - along with several other networks - are currently participating in the contract negotiations. It's a high-stakes affair. CBS paid $6 billion to exclusively broadcast the event for the last 11 years.

In an effort to hoodwink a TV network into again overpaying for the Big Dance, the NCAA is considering expanding the tourney to 96 teams.

So it's only logical that the selection committee provided the Blue Devils - tournament-chokers for most of the last decade - a relative cakewalk to the Final Four. Duke, the alleged third No. 1 seed, is in the bracket with the weakest No. 2 (Villanova) and No. 3 (Baylor) and No. 4 (Purdue).

Meanwhile, the Jayhawks draw No. 2 seed Ohio State, the team many believe deserved a No. 1, and No. 3 Georgetown and No. 4 Maryland. Every expert I heard Sunday stated the obvious: Kansas is in the toughest bracket in the tournament, and Duke is in the easiest.

McLeod played at Duke and in the NBA, and was a lead recruiter for Crean. The timing indicates that there was a major mistake made by McLeod or a personality conflict somewhere.

And so, if you wanted to construct a sequence in which Greivis Vasquez would definitively pass Jon Scheyer as the front-runner for this year's conference honor, it might go like this: The Duke media relations staff leaves a huge pile of glossy brochures pushing Scheyer's candidacy in the Maryland media lounge, the two players both play key roles in a tremendous nationally televised basketball game that's destined to come down to the final few minutes, and when it finally gets to be crunch time, Vasquez hits a truly absurd shot while being defended by Scheyer, who then goes down and misses at the other end