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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Charles Curtis

It’s perfectly OK to admit you’re secretly rooting for Duke to win in Coach K’s final season

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning WinSubscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is filling in for Andy Nesbitt.

You’re probably getting ready to throw tomatoes at your screen, but hear me out.

There’s a part of you that actually wants Duke to win as legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski stands on the Blue Devils’ sidelines for one last run.

Yes, yes, Duke is the evil empire, the front-runner you’ve been trained not to root for unless it’s your alma mater.

Except … how cool would it be to see him take a team that was seemingly overrated heading into the tournament and ride off into the sunset with one more national championship? You love Hollywood endings! Wouldn’t this be one?

(An aside: There are exceptions. I don’t expect North Carolina fans to feel this way.)

Fine, I’ll admit that there’s a percentage of me that wants this to happen, despite Duke ruining a perfectly good Texas Tech pick in a bracket pool where I was leading, thank you very much. Ultimately, I’ll be a St. Peter’s fan tonight and maybe cheering for Purdue and Jaden Ivey would be fun if the Boilermakers emerge victorious from that Sweet 16 game.

But in the back of my mind, I want to see an emotional Coach K lifted by Paolo Banchero and Co., winning one more for an all-time legend in any sport.

OK, I’m ready. Toss those tomatoes. Just know that I’m speaking to some part of you that kind of wants Duke to win but doesn’t want to say it out loud.

Quick hits: Our latest NBA mock draft … Who wants to play with Aaron Rodgers … and more.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky’s latest NBA mock draft and a certain Gonzaga center is No. 1 overall even though he’s now out of the tourney.

— Who wants to play with Aaron Rodgers? Seems like … no one?

— Providence coach Ed Cooley did the Michael Jordan quarters game in Chicago.

— Layup Lines, our new daily NBA afternoon newsletter is LIVE! Subscribe to it here!

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