Anything Can Happen...

in sports...It's a cliche in the NFL that "any given Sunday" any team can beat a given team on a single day. Last night, clearly indicates why professional football and college basketball are clearly the best sports in the country because of the single elimination nature of their playoff system.

My football Giants shocked the world last night and beat the mighty, undefeated Patriots but let's face it, if the NFL Championship was determined in a 7-game series format, the Patriots probably would've won 4 games to 1. However, in a one game setting, any team can lose to another. That's why I am so opposed to standardized tests carrying so much weight in a student's future because anyone, no matter how great you are, can have a bad day.

The Giants upset of the mighty Patriots brought back some good and bad feelings surrounding the Duke program.

The Good: Heading into the 1991 Final 4, Duke was an immense underdog against the undefeated UNLV Runnin' Rebels, despite having been to 4 straight Final 4's and 5 Final 4's in the previous 6 years. But, did you blame the oddsmakers? UNLV stormed through the 1991 season, never being challenged, and to top it all off, they were the defending champions who happened to beat the same Duke team by 30 in the final. The odds were against the Blue Devils but after 40 great minutes and a few lucky bounces, the Blue Devils shocked the world 79-77. There is no doubt that if this were a series, UNLV would've advanced but in single elimination tournaments, anything can happen...

The Bad: 1999 Championship game...Duke was an amazing 37-1 heading into the title game against UCONN and the one loss was in late November on a dunk by Melvin Levitt of Cincinnati at the buzzer in the Great Alaskan Shootout. Throughout the year, it appeared that this Duke team was the most unbeatable of the K era. They had everything on this team: Elton Brand (National POY), Shane Battier (National Defensive POY and eventual National POY), Chris Carrawell (2000 ACC POY), Trajan Langdon (2-time All-American), William Avery (one of the quickest guards in the game), and get this, Corey Maggette (now a prominent NBA talent) off the bench. However, on that given day, UCONN played their best game, Duke played their worst game, and in the end, you had a crushing 77-74 loss ending with Langdon dribbling the ball off of his foot. It was a bitter pill to swallow. However, we all know that Duke would've won a 7-game series.

That's why I love college basketball and that's why I love football...

Let me soak up this win by the football Giants, regroup, and then make a huge push back towards Duke where this week will be busy for me. Remember, WRAL.com on Wednesday, with an extensive preview sometime tomorrow...