Mighty Duke University Has Fallen on Hard Times

Turns out that there's something monumental going on at Duke that has nothing to do with strippers, frat parties or lacrosse players. For the first time in 11 years (in layman's terms that's over 200 weeks) Duke's legendary men's basketball team is out of the Top 25. Having just lost 4 games in a row, Mike Krzyzewski's Dukies are losing and losing big, to the point that you wouldn't just have to be a Duke hater to wonder aloud if they'll make this year's NCAA tournament.

This just can't be.

After all, this is Duke men's basketball we're talking about. One of the most celebrated programs in all of sports, not just college basketball. Duke, home of Coach K, the one-time protégé of Bob Knight who has earned his own place as one of the best coaches in basketball. Duke, home of fourteen Final Four appearances and three national championships. Duke, home to the Cameron Crazies, where excellence is the standard.

But not this year.

With a record of 18-7 the Dukies have struggled mightily, losing recent games on their home court to teams like Florida State and archrival North Carolina, an outcome that seemed to be treated as just a happenstance of a poor season by the national media rather than a huge upset, considering that the Tar Heels rarely beat Duke in Cameron.

Can they come back?

Of course they can, especially with Coach K at the helm. Granted the loss of J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams (last season's top two scorers) to graduation has hurt the team, but now's not the time to panic and the head coach will make sure his players don't lose their heads in the face of adversity.

Then too, one has to note that two of Duke's most recent losses came on last-second shots and the young team (which features an eight-man rotation that includes four freshmen and three sophomores) stayed with Carolina for the most of the game until the Tar Heels pulled it out in the end last week. Plus, while Duke's schedule has tough (as is the case for every team in the ACC considering it's easily college basketball's best conference), out-of-conference wins over Indiana, Georgetown and Air Force should keep their RPI high enough to earn a spot in the Big Dance. Lastly, even if they do struggle down the stretch, there's still the ACC tournament (which Duke owns) coming up and a win there would also guarantee an NCAA tournament bid regardless of how they finish during the regular season.

In other words, despite their struggles this season, even the biggest Duke hater out there shouldn't count their chickens just yet.