In response to the headline - YES!!! And Ratface still cries that the other team gets the calls, and can't stand when the refs talk to the opposing coach w/o including him in the conversation.

No Doubt....the dukies get away with murder

Nothing was worse than the Final Four when the refs donned their Blue Satans jerseys and helped Duke erase a 22 point deficit.

Are you kidding me? Of course Duke gets the close calls, the not-so-close calls, all of the calls. And, of course their head coach whines so much on the sidelines that those officials not already in Duke's pocket climb in after being berrated and intimidated all game long by the Duke Devil himself. Look at those photos of "K" in this story and tell me he doesn't look like the devil himself. Yes Duke gets some pretty good college players. Can't argue that. But, are there any players in the country more obnoxious than Greg Paulus and how about former Dukies J.J. Reddick and Steve Wojciechowski? The more Duke loses, the better for everyone. If you ever needed an example of what Duke arrogance really is, just remember the three players on the Duke lacrosse team the entire Duke establishment threw under the bus. Enough said.

This may have been somewhat true 8-10 years ago but i really think it's the opposite now. I think from people crying about Duke getting the calls for so many years has made the officials go out of there way to make calls against Duke. Looks like Tyler (i don't have 1 offensive move but i broke the record for most free throw attempts) Hansbourgh and UNC gets them now. If you watch college basketball without a grudge it's pretty easy to see.

Every conference has teams who a group of fans feel get more calls than other. In the Pac-10, its UCLA and Arizona, in the SEC its Kentucky, for years in the Big 10, it was Indiana.

As an ardent MD fan, I hate to use anything that has been posted by a UNC fan... However let me share with you Duke vs. Goats:

http://www.gunaxin.com/duke-or-goat/10327

Not sure who has the edge here... However, I'm going to say Duke beats the goat.

Of course, but not just Duke, any in state NC time contending for the league lead. Think of the ACC as a company, marketing itself as the nations top (one of) BB conference. To do so, it needs to brand it's top teams as the leaders - and the calls assure that success. Test question: witness Maryland's final four teams of 2002&03. Duke was down, NC was down. MD carried the ACC brand, and MD got the calls all season, even against Duke.....watch the film. It's always a Carolina league - ask the Cavaliers, or FSU, or Clemson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKHf00juP18

Does this answer your question? Duke avoids upset in a close NCAA Tournament win decided by a few ATROCIOUS calls...

This is just another absurd rant about how Duke gets all the calls. It frankly has become tiring as a fan to even contest the nonsensical nature of every Duke hater. I won't bring up for example that two Duke starters fouled out in the Texas game, compared to one Texas starter, or that Duke had another player with four fouls. Does Duke get a lot of calls sure they do, but no more than any other team. The fact that so many people are reduced to middle school tiraids every time Duke wins is just laughable. It reminds me when I was a kid and I said the same things about Carolina and then I grew up and realized that they are successful and a very good program and that, unfortunately more times than not they beat my team. See I'm mature I can admit it. That is why I hate the Tarheels. Nothing wrong with beeing a passionate fan, but at least have some class and don't reduce yourself to the childish "you cheated approach." Perhaps if Maryland fans had a little more class and didn't feel the need to drop the "F" bomb during games or wear shirts with the "F" word on it perhaps someone might take them a little more seriously, but as for me I've stoppped even trying.

It will certainly come into play against Villanova, especially given the Big East style of physical play. First 10 minutes of the game will determine how physical Villanova will be allowed to play.

the better the players/team, the more calls they will get simply because they are better. If you can't stop someone with defense, you end up fouling them. Basic basketball. I've been watching and I still haven't seen a defender good enough this year to stop Henderson on the drive without fouling him.

Duke over the years gets hosed by bad officiating as much as the ever get any breaks from it. Anyone who watched Ricky Moore run over Duke for the entire title game or Carlos Boozer get hammered by Indiana or Emeka Okafor go over Shelden WIlliams back a dozen times in the second half or saw Temple from LSU hang on Redick for entire game knows how often Duke loses big games due to bad officiating.

Even this Texas game is a fine example of this. Duke haters (who have never shown any signs of rationality, logic, or accuracy) love to point to this game and say the refs won it for them. But while it would have been understandable to see them not call the foul that gave Smith the tie breaking free throws - there was a lot of contact there, unlike earlier when Scheyer and Singler both had fouls called on them for simply being close to Texas guys who fell down. And even though Duke's two starting big men had fouled out (no Texas starters fouled out for the game), when Texas absolutely HAD to get a rebound, Duke outworked them for the truly crucial play of the game. Can't blame the refs for that.

This is some of the most ridiculous tripe ever. You guys are so jealous of Duke that it has inhibited your ability to think rationally.

I love the loser haters. Duke gets all the calls? Yeah. Didn't get the calls when Boozer got hacked the last play of the Indiana Sweet 16 game, and the Indiana players chuckled about it at the press conference. Didn't get the calls when Redick got help and hacked against UCONN. But yeah, they get the calls becasue that 22 point free throw they were awarded against Maryland. Its typical Maryland antics. They play little brother to every big city and every big school so they conspiracy everything. People from Maryland are the biggest low life cowards in the world. Thats as much as a fact as Duke getting all the calls I guess

I guess it's obligatory after every Duke victory for somebody, usually from the losing side, to cry "foul".

As for the Texas game, the fouls seemed to be pretty consistently and fairly called both ways. I'm not sure how Duke can be accused of "getting" the calls in that game when in fact two starters (including Singler) had fouled out and Zoubek had picked up four fouls (and also a busted nose). And the final "absurd" loose ball foul was a foul; the ball was no longer loose once Henderson corralled it and the Texas player nearly tackled him; at which point it was a foul.

Duke beat Texas because Duke made plays down the stretch and because Duke was much better at hitting free throws than Texas, who pretty much sucked at the line and who didn't block out on the rebound after Williams missed his second attempt near the end.

And as for Coach K working refs worse than any other coach, that's a bunch of bunk too. I suppose MD fans have never looked at Gary ranting on the sideline. Of course, MD fans are conditioned to blame their teams' failures on officiating conspiracies, and other such nonsense.

I guess the Duke fans on here figure they won't have to deal with UNC fans (I read there volitile blogs down here in NC). Love that superiority complex they have as they think no one is superior to them. Just one question to Dookies: yeah, you have all the McDonald's AA, the top-flight players and Coach K, so then why is it that over the past 13 years the team that has beaten you the most, both here and at cameron is MD? And why, with all that talent is it that you haven't won a National Championship since WE HAVE!? Tsk, tsk, tsk!

The reason that Maryland never gets close calls is because they lose so many games. In case you have not realized it Maryland fans, the cries that Duke gets all the calls is directly proportional to the number of games that it wins each year. Nobody complained that Duke got the calls last year against WVa or the year before against VCU or in 1995 when they had a losing record.

Mark, I'm not sure you're on the right message board. This one is supposed to be dealing with alleged favoritism the refs show Duke, not what ACC team has beaten Duke the most or Duke's talent or lack thereof and its failure to win a national title since Maryland's. But since you bring it up....

Kudos to MD for beating Duke more than any other ACC team in the last 13 years. Of course, winning against Duke more often than most doesn't mean that MD has won most of its matches against Duke--as demonstrated by this year's dominance of MD, not to mention the 40-point smackdown Duke gave the Terps back in January (Okay, I mentioned it).

And even with talent its tough to win a title. Without talent...well, as MD fans know so well, it's just tough being invited to the Dance.

Interesting thoughts posted... one bit of insight I 'd like to add, though I have to admit it seems they don't get as many calls as they once did. A retired ACC ref (~2000) that lived near where I used to live said that Coach K was so completely manipulative that he would never let it go - if he ever thought he was "wronged" on a call he would make the ref fear for his job. Months later he would still not even speak to the refs. Gary, on the other hand, may say everytihng in the book to the ref during the game but afterwards would act as if it never happened and may even grab a bite to eat with the guy and never even hint towards getting "wronged".

Kevin, Your headline's a rhetorical question...right? LOL

P.S. Scheyer's saving that loose ball was a pretty amazing play.

One more gripe about pro-Duke bias. Just listen to national basketball analysts and prepared to have your barf bag ready.

Hands down worst offender, of course, is Dick "Dookie" Vital. Just watch a game he broadcasts at Duke. The students idolize him almost as much (and I do stress the word almost) as he idolizes Coach K. and the Blue Devils. What a joke. (In fairness, he has had his share of good things to say about Gary Williams and the Terps, so his aren't 100% skewed for Duke.)

To me it's more the no calls that duke gets than the calls. The kid Williams needs a passport to play ball he travels so much and never gets called. And their handchecking is beyond belief. These things are called way too many time against the teams that they play.

This is a stupid question and definitely a “softball” for anyone who pays attention to college basketball. OF COURSE, Duke gets favorable calls. You ask the question like there is some doubt about that. When Duke beat Maryland at Maryland this year, the first half seemed fairly even and then EVERY call (or no-call) in the second half went Duke's way.

In the very next game versus Virginia Tech, Duke got VERY favorable calls again. In fact, with Duke up by 3 with a minute or so left, Scheyer walked with the ball 3 times and there was no call. It was so blatant that ESPN showed it twice in slow-motion review on SportsCenter that night. Scheyer established his pivot foot, then picked up that foot and established his other foot as the pivot foot, and then he re-established the first pivot foot. Any moron could have seen it was a walk. . .but no call.

I guess the sick part is just that similar calls are not often made for other teams. . .it’s always just Duke. . .they get the calls EVERY time, they get the calls EVERY year..

Duke and the officials. . .they must have some kind of "arrangement"

didn't we see it in the tournament this year and vs. Maryland in College Park???

I'd say the officials did a pretty poor job.