Not to be outdone, Slate's Sports Nuts promised readers: "We will never apologize for hating Duke, or any other team. But especially Duke."
Unfortunately, they also lashed out at the Colonels.
So here's a reason to hate the Sports Nuts:
"Eastern Kentucky University, Ohio Valley Conference, No. 16 in East RegionAt first, I thought I might love Eastern Kentucky. The little-known school eked its way into the NCAA Tournament with a buzzer-beating, one-point win in the OVC championship game. Now the prognosticators think the Colonels will get slaughtered by the big, bad North Carolina Tar Heels. Well, call me cold-hearted, but I wouldn't want it any other way. Eastern Kentucky is everything that's wrong with the NCAA Tournament. 
That's a bold statement for someone who's never seen Eastern Kentucky play. But the numbers alone tell me there's nothing spunky or hard-nosed about this underdog. Like so many other would-be Cinderellas, the Colonels' secret recipe consists of chucking up 3-pointers and hoping for the best. The Eastern Kentucky guys play lousy defense, they don't hit the boards, and they almost never foul anyone. On top of that, the team takes it slow on every possession, endlessly passing the ball around the perimeter like a bunch of weenies.
On Thursday, the Colonels will do their best to slow down a talented Tar Heel team that loves to run the floor. Tune in and you'll see an unexciting team fight desperately to impose its sluggishness on one of the most entertaining teams of recent years. It's one thing to go down fighting; it's another to make things boring when you do."—Daniel Engber
And here's a reason to love the Sports Nuts:
"Duke University, Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 6 in West RegionDuke's hatefulness is a well-established theme. What makes this year special is that the Blue Devils have gone from being loathsome to being contemptible. Two weeks ago, Duke's Gerald Henderson punctuated a blowout loss by viciously elbowing North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough. This wasn't just the play of a goon—it was the play of a loser. 
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski denied that any thuggery took place. "That's not the way he plays, and that's not the way we play," announced the celebrated motivational speaker and ethicist. Krzyzewski has yet to disavow his team's pitiful state. Maybe the coach was busy doing makeup for a Chevy commercial when the NBA blocked high-schoolers from the draft. As the talent level in college rose, the talent in Durham somehow sagged to pitiful depths.
Krzyzewski's team looks less like a McDonald's All-American Team than McDonald's soft-serve ice cream: schlumpy, slow-moving, and vanilla.
Overmatched at skills like running and shooting, the Blue Devils have gone to a walk-it-up offense, backed by their usual grabby, rugby-rules defense. It's ugly to watch—Duke scored fewer than 80 points in all but three games—but it's also ineffective.
The Devils lost at home to Florida State, were swept by Maryland and North Carolina, and got bounced from the play-in round of the league tournament. It's a résumé that would get some schools into the NIT. It earned Duke a healthy No. 6 seed in the NCAAs. Even in eclipse, they still know how to work the officials."—Tom Scocca
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