I did not yet see the Duke-FSU game last night in which FSU won 79-74, although I have it on my DVR and may try to watch this weekend when I have time. I was not really surprised by this loss for several reasons. For Duke, the regular season is over now, basically. They have the ACC title and a #1 seed in the ACC tournament, and most likely a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Of course, it’s not like they were indifferent and didn’t care. Yes, they wanted to win. However, FSU was playing for a bid, for their tournament lives, so to speak. They needed this game to even have a chance at the NCAA tournament. A loss would likely mean NIT for them. So, they had a lot more to play for, and on top of that was the “controversial” game from a few weeks ago for which they wanted “revenge.” One other thing of note: FSU has beaten Duke now 3 of the last 5 times in Tallahassee, so they’ve had success in recent years against Duke in their own house.  

When they lost in overtime at Duke, there was a multitude of talking heads, sportswriters and even FSU folks themselves crying about the officiating, the difference in fouls called and free throws taken, and one call in particular about with about 9:00 minutes to go. This apparenlty cost them the game - which, of course, was a stupid claim to begin with. In the end, Duke had 15 fouls to FSU’s 28, and a 43-11 free throw advantage.

Last night, FSU had only 17 fouls to Duke’s 30, and a 40-17 free throw advantage. Should I expect outrage from the league and from media-types? Am I to assume the officiating crew for this game will be suspended? Check out this quote from this article:

If you want to know where the difference in the game was, it was that FSU’s Al Thornton and Alexander Johnson each had 14 foul shots. Thornton missed one; Johnson missed four. Florida State outscored Duke 32-11 from the line, and had 41 attempts to 17, which pretty much will win most games, provided you hit them.

Curiously, we have yet to hear from anyone who is suggesting the referees gave the game to Florida State by letting them outshoot Duke by such a drastic margin, or by giving FSU only 17 fouls to Duke’s 30. As we have come to understand it, according to Al Skinner and other experts, that is an inherent sign of bias. Surely someone will call for the league office to investigate this.

The last part, of course, was in jest. I know there was no bias of any kind - just like there wasn’t a few weeks ago - and I think FSU (from what I’ve read) came out prepared to get that one win they needed to improve their resume for the tournament.

But you won’t hear a peep out of anyone who was screaming about the so-called Duke favoritism advantage a few weeks ago (including FSU coach Leonard Hamilton) and those who said (and are still saying today, by the way) that FSU was “robbed” at Duke. I guess it’s only biased if it doesn’t favor your team. Or, evidently, if it favors Duke. When it’s Duke’s opponent that gets the advantage, the world of college basketball is eerily silent.

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Next up is the season finale at Cameron with UNC. The Tar Heels have been looking very good of late, and nothing would make them happier than to spoil Duke’s senior day (especially Redick’s). I think the Devils will be at least equally determined to finish the season and the seniors career at home with a win.