I have been saying all year, and absorbing much criticism from the ref apologists, that Duke and Carolina get preferential treatment from the ACC officials by order of the commissioners office to insure high seedings in the NCAA tournament and to continue recruiting dominance over others in the ACC.

Duke was playing a team tonight that arguably should not have even been in the tournament as the 92nd rated RPI team in the NCAA. They got in because of the auto bid rule by winning their minor league conference. This argument is NOT a debate of the auto bid rule or the RPI, but rather the ACC and their cheating officials. You see Duke was given a high seed based on flawed results, got to play very close to home, and were playing a 15 seed or a "patsy".

But what Duke did NOT get to do is bring their three extra players, the ACC refs, with them. Without their henchmen, they had to win the game fairly by themselves, something they were not used to doing. In the ACC when things got tight they could always depend on the ref to bail them out with some ridiculously obviously bad call against their opponent. They actually looked surprised when charging and blocking calls went against them. Their "tight" fouling defense was actually called fouls by this crew as they should have been. The officials for tonight's game should be commended for calling a fair game, something that other teams in the ACC do not get to experience when playing Duke or Carolina. It was very satisfying to watch Duke get beaten as they should have been for much of the ACC season if not for the ACC refs.