Thought experiment

[ucinnc]

If you were a Duke fan, would you rather have gone out against Siena, or the gut-punch on Sunday?

I think (?) the obvious answer is of course you take the Elite 8. But man, if the roles were reversed, I think the round 1 embarrassment would be easier to live with than the pain from the Braylon dagger.

 

[Travelman6]

Elite 8 gut punch over a 16 over 1 upset every day of the week.

 

[bendm]

16 over 1 is worse. They got to enjoy being on the winning end of the Laetner shot for years this evens it out.

 

[Palatine]

Going out in the first round is a much worse "gut punch."

 

[Marat]

Thank goodness we are not Duke fans.

But losing to Sienna would have been much worse.

 

[Travelman6]

After watching Duke play, quite the team. blown away 5 guys from Siena were a few plays away from winning before falling by 5 against them, wow.

 

[Deepster]

Good question. I feel like....

a) The Siena loss would be a tagline of the first round forever. "__ and ____ are the only 1 seeds to lose to a 16 seed". Unless there was a buzzer beater there, you're not really reliving a moment.

b) The Mullins shot will be replayed a kajillion times over and over and over for the rest of our lives. I know Red Sox fans that, even winning 4 WS titles, still get triggered at the Buckner highlight. I would imagine seeing the Mullins play is pure torture that never gets any easier to see.

 

[Vuce]

Good question. I feel like....

a) The Siena loss would be a tagline of the first round forever. "__ and ____ are the only 1 seeds to lose to a 16 seed". Unless there was a buzzer beater there, you're not really reliving a moment.

b) The Mullins shot will be replayed a kajillion times over and over and over for the rest of our lives. I know Red Sox fans that, even winning 4 WS titles, still get triggered at the Buckner highlight. I would imagine seeing the Mullins play is pure torture that never gets any easier to see.

That's true - after winning 6 championships including the 99 and 04 ones when we went thru Duke, I STILL shut the TV off or leave the room when the 1990 Laettner shot comes on. Happy to have this over Duke now too so they can share in that feeling! But I would still take the Elite 8 gut punch over losing to a 16 seed in the first round.

 

[Windham4th]

For the red Sox fans

 

[cullaville]

If you were a Duke fan, would you rather have gone out against Siena, or the gut-punch on Sunday?

I think (?) the obvious answer is of course you take the Elite 8. But man, if the roles were reversed, I think the round 1 embarrassment would be easier to live with than the pain from the Braylon dagger.

The goal is win every game you play. I would much rather be 3 and 1 in the tournament than 0 and 1.

 

[HuskyinWRNY]

If you were a Duke fan, would you rather have gone out against Siena, or the gut-punch on Sunday?

I think (?) the obvious answer is of course you take the Elite 8. But man, if the roles were reversed, I think the round 1 embarrassment would be easier to live with than the pain from the Braylon dagger.

Losing to Sienna anytime would be bad

 

[mussels]

First reaction is a no brainer - take the elite eight. But a little reflection on the sinking feeling I had when our Michigan State lead evaporated, and how much it would’ve sucked to blow that game, gives me pause. Throw in a miracle shot on top of the blown lead and its a hard question.

Best way to really settle it is to go on the Duke board and ask them if they feel worse about this, or the 2 seed upset by 15 Lehigh.

 

[uconngb]

Good question. I feel like....

a) The Siena loss would be a tagline of the first round forever. "__ and ____ are the only 1 seeds to lose to a 16 seed". Unless there was a buzzer beater there, you're not really reliving a moment.

b) The Mullins shot will be replayed a kajillion times over and over and over for the rest of our lives. I know Red Sox fans that, even winning 4 WS titles, still get triggered at the Buckner highlight. I would imagine seeing the Mullins play is pure torture that never gets any easier to see.

This is a very interesting take on it. The Mullins shot will now be seered into NCAA Tourney annals forever in a 5 second snippet.

 

[REB1094]

Losing as the #1 overall seed to a 16 seed mid major vs. losing to a 2 seed blue blood in the elite 8

Hmmmmmm

 

[NJHoops]

Losing to UConn is respectable.

The jokes would literally never end if they lost to Siena.

 

[gsmooth]

Losing to UConn is respectable.

The jokes would literally never end if they lost to Siena.

Yes, the Mullins shot will be replayed in NCAAT commercials and promotions from now until the end of time because it was a game winner to go to the Final Four. Duke losing to UConn was a #1 seed losing to a #2 seed. One blue blood basketball powerhouse losing to another blue blood basketball powerhouse. This was Goliath being taken out by Goliath.

Duke not just being the #1 seed in the East region but in the #1 overall seed of the NCAAT and then losing to #16 seed Siena would've been a million times worse. They would have been the laughing stock of everyone and the #1 example of David taking out Goliath. Every year in the NCAAT when a #1 plays a #16 the table graphic would be shown on the screen showing the 3 games a #16 seed has beaten a #1 seed.

It's an interesting thought experiment, but one with an easy answer in my opinion.

 

[Kembafan]

First round losses are what chased cal out of Kentucky. Those are devastating.