\n<\/p>\n
What do the Mighty Ducks, Buster Douglas, the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team and 2025 Duke basketball all have in common?<\/p>\n
They\u2019re America\u2019s favorite underdog!<\/p>\n
After blowing a nine-point lead with just three minutes to play against Houston in the Final Four, Duke was ceremoniously bounced<\/a> from the tournament. The Blue Devils were heavy favorites\u2014as they usually are\u2014so why in the world are we calling them underdogs?<\/p>\n Well, don\u2019t take my word for it. Take incoming freshman and No. 3 recruit in the country, Cameron Boozer\u2019s:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very overlooked right now,” Boozer said<\/a>. “Once the season starts, that\u2019ll change for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n In what universe has Duke basketball ever<\/i> been overlooked?<\/p>\n They\u2019re one of the few college basketball programs that can command headlines year-round, and they just made a Final Four run in Jon Scheyer\u2019s third season as head coach.<\/p>\n Scheyer has picked up right where Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski left off with his team\u2019s play on the court\u2014and dare I say, he\u2019s somehow been even better as a recruiter.<\/p>\n Duke Recruiting Rankings by Year:<\/strong> The worst recruiting class Scheyer has brought in is the second-best<\/i> in the country. So recruiting boards aren\u2019t overlooking Duke. Must be the polls, right?<\/p>\n Nope.<\/p>\n The Blue Devils are a consensus top-10 team in most way-too-early rankings and could even open the season inside the top five.<\/p>\n This \u201ceveryone doubts us\u201d shtick? It has Coach K\u2019s fingerprints all over it. Scheyer, a former Blue Devil and longtime assistant, is following the same PR playbook. Whining to the media about being disrespected, when no team in college basketball gets the benefit of the doubt like Duke.<\/p>\n So I get that Cameron Boozer is just echoing the cookie-cutter coachspeak Scheyer is selling. But he\u2019s at the one<\/i> school where that line just doesn\u2019t work. He\u2019s the reigning Gatorade Player of the Year, part of the best recruiting class in the country, and attending the school with the second-most national titles in the last 50 years.<\/p>\n Still, maybe this isn\u2019t a Duke problem. Maybe it\u2019s a Boozer family problem\u2014a situation where maybe you just don\u2019t want to put a mic in front of these guys.<\/p>\n
2025: No. 1
2024: No. 1
2023: No. 2
2022: No. 1<\/p>\n