Is Anyone Cheering for Duke?

It's time for the NCAA Final Four, and for the first time since 2004, the Duke Blue Devils have advanced this far along with West Virginia, Michigan State, and Butler. While all four schools have had a great year, most of the news coverage has been centered on the hometown heroes, Butler. Everyone is quick to point out the advantage in crowd support that Butler will have in Indianapolis as well as all the references to the movie Hoosiers. People are also very quick to point out the great coaching jobs done by Michigan State's Tom Izzo and West Virginia's Bob Huggins. However, the praises and overall tone of the conversation seems to shift people discuss Duke.

From the beginning of the tournament, the complaints poured in about how Duke did not deserve a number one seed and about how the selection committee gave Duke the easiest path to the Final Four. For various reasons, it seems almost impossible to find someone cheering for Duke outside of North Carolina (where there is a huge percentage of UNC fans rooting for anyone of the other three teams). For various reasons, people seem to hate a deep hate for Duke. The reasons vary - they win too much, they are on television too much, their players haven't performed well in the NBA, etc. The list goes on and on and on.

Duke is not the only program to suffer this love/hate relation with the general public. Notre Dame, the New York Yankees, and the Los Angeles Lakers are just a few examples of other programs that suffer this same fate. I remember when I lived in Lexington, Ky. More than 10 years had passed since the Christian Laettner shot that knocked Kentucky out of the tournament, yet the single mention of the word Duke was enough to get one thrown out of town. While I lived in Lexington and again these past couple weeks, I can't understand why people do not give Duke more due credit.

Let's talk about Duke as a university for a little bit. The admissions data for 2007 shows the following:

• Percent of Applicants Admitted: 23%

• Test Scores -- 25th / 75th Percentile

• SAT Critical Reading: 660 / 750

• SAT Math: 680 / 790

• SAT Writing: 680 / 780

• ACT Composite: 29 / 34

• ACT English: 30 / 34

• ACT Math: 29 / 35

Duke is part of the "research triangle" with UNC Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.The area boasts the highest concentration of PhDs and MDs in the world.

While all student-athletes have to juggle sports and academics, Duke student-athletes have to meet some of the strictest academic standards just to get into school. Also, the university's curriculum is extremely demanding. Duke has had an Academic All-American on the team 14 years. A 2006 evaluation by the NCAA showed Duke student-athletes have the highest graduation rate of any institution in the nation at 91%. If you exclude students who leave or transfer in good academic standing, the rate is an amazing 97%. The accolades for the university's student-athletes go on and on.

While he deserves his own article for his accomplishments, the winning atmosphere and coaching skills of Mike Krzyzewski - Coach K. His teams got to five straight Final Fours starting in 1988 and then again in 1994, 1999 and 2001, and 2004 to go along with 12 ACC regular-season titles, 11 conference tournament championships, 10 Final Fours, three national titles, 2001 Hall of Fame induction and 2008 and 2012 Olympics coach. After the 2008 Olympics, Kobe Bryant and other NBA stars were quick to praise Coach K and his coaching style.

It's always cooler and the in-thing to cheer for the underdog or to root against the team that always seems to win. However, it's equally as important to praise a school like Duke for its academic achievements, its student-athletes, and a great tradition. In an age where star players and coaches are more interested in jumping to the NBA and all of the money that it offers, it is refreshing to still see coaches like Coach K and the dedication that they show to the NCAA.

So as the Final Four approaches, I may not be the majority, but I am pulling for Duke and will be cheering them all the way until they cut the nets downs in Indianapolis.