East Coast Bias? Naw...

I heard Tony Kornheiser express his great surprise that Maryland was knocked out in the first round of the ACC tournament today. Over the last month, many pundits have argued that the Terps are a dangerous (if volatile) team capable of making some noise in the NCAA tournament. "After all," the refrain went, "Maryland beat Duke twice this year!!" When you hear that, your instinct is to think that Maryland must be pretty good to sweep the mighty Dukies. But at what point do those Maryland-Duke games start being a blemish against Duke rather than a boon for Maryland? Maryland went 7-9 in conference and lost three times to Clemson. It's clear now that Maryland is simply a mediocre team. Duke's two losses reveal that the Blue Devils are more vulnerable than anyone has been willing to admit. Funny how everybody evaluates ACC teams with the glass half full.