correction, the score of the 2001 game should be 74-73

Why does everyone these days include the swagger factor into their predictions? Is there a swagger scale with which you can measure the amount of swagger among a given team? Does the team with the most swagger get the ball first, 11 seconds to cross half court, or a nine foot rim? Does it matter if their fans have a swagger? What about the players' girlfriends? Is swaggering communicable?
I look back on all of my sporting teams with dismay, wondering how good we could've been if our coach had devoted just a little practice time to our swagger...
Anyway, I hope both teams lose tonight.

Moe power to you JOsh -- I find myself hoping Duke trounces them. The more losses, the sooner the idiot is gone.

Remember -- there was a time IU was coached by the guy that taught Coach K everything he knows instead of by a seemingly nice, but otherwise abysmal gentleman coach.

Nice to see ITA's Hoosiers are back in action today. Colts hangover? :)

I despise Dook and will be rooting for Indiana tonight. But my real interest lies in the Maryland-Minnesota undercard. Go Terps!

You wrote this just to bait me, didn't you? Actually, this should be a really good game tonight. I think Duke is every bit as deep as IU, but it's very young depth and Coach K may well keep a lot of it on the bench. I think it's important to get one of the freshmen, Marty Pocius, more playing time, particularly in a game like this. With Demarcus Nelson out for a few weeks with an injury, Pocius is the only guy on the team who can replace his ability to slash to the basket from the wing. He's young, but plays much older than he is and has looked great when he's been in. And with IU's size inside, Eric Boateng may need to see more minutes as well.

Duke hasn't really looked like the #1 team in the nation so far, but that doesn't really concern me. Trying to integrate 5 new players into the mix with a bunch of upperclassmen takes time. This is a game they could well lose tonight and it wouldn't shake my confidence in where the Devils will be at the end of the year. I'd be happy for the IU kids if they win, but it would also help Mike Davis keep his job, and Davis drives me nuts.

It's a damn shame IU's going into this game without probably its best player.

I think it's incredibly hard to argue that DJ White is better than Marco Killingsworth. For the better part of last season Marco would school White in practice and was actually in charge of teaching him to be a better inside player. White is an integral part of the team, but I don't think he's the best.

The last IU/Duke game was in 2002.

I'm still grumpy about that 1992 NCAA final four game officiated by the horrid Ted Valentine. The Hoosiers set a record that night for most players fouling out of the game: Damon Bailey, Greg Graham, Calbert Cheney, and Alan Henderson. Valentine also gave IU a technical "because the bench jumped up."

As one who didn't attend either school, perhaps I am at a disadvantage. But maybe not.

Does anyone else out there think that fans who engage in references to rival teams as "Dook" and "tu" (how Texas A&M fans refer to the University of Texas) are acting like childish twits?

What is accomplished by these terminology antics? Showing that one can't spell correctly? What does spelling Duke as "Dook" signal?

This childish twit uses the word "Dook" to smoke out people who take things too seriously. :)

I'm delighted that you are self-aware. :)

Well I'm breathing a sigh of relief. Killingsworth is a beast and the thought of he and White on the floor at the same time is frightening. They gave Duke a hell of a shot and showed great poise to make that a game.

I can't help but think that IU would have won but for not being prepared to play at tipoff. These guys are supposed to be a top-10 team with Final Four aspirations. No excuse for the early jitters that lost the game.