Screw Duke.

I say that with love. Actually, I say it with a Yankee-hating-like contempt. I hope the plane ride back to North Carolina was long and miserable. Because does anybody without ties to Durham, N.C., like the Blue Devils?

Duke is like the Detroit Red Wings, or the USC Trojans football team, or the bitchy hot chicks at the bar: Everybody loves to hate them. Those teams are always stacked with talent and have been more successful in the last 20 years or so than anyone wants to give them credit for. Except for the bitchy hot chicks — I’ll give them full points for their shallowness and lack of personality.

But I digress.

Since Mike Krzyzewski took over as Duke head coach in 1980, the Blue Devils have three national titles, 10 Final Four appearances and 25 NCAA Tournament berths. Duke has produced more NBA top 10 picks than any other school besides North Carolina under Coach K’s watch (11). The expectation every year is to contend for a title.

It’s sickening.

How much fun could it be to root for a team that sees anything except a championship as a disappointment? And feel free to tell me if you know.

The more you expect from your team, the more you set yourself up for disappointment. Think the Yankees are ever just glad to make the playoffs? Of course not — coming in second means you’re just the first loser.

The Cameron Crazies don’t know how good we have it here at Wisconsin. Bucky is good, occasionally great, almost never favored to win it all. So when the Badgers do succeed — like when they made it to the 2000 Final Four as a No. 8 seed — it feels a little more special.

I don’t want to insinuate that Duke fans are unappreciative of their team’s success. But what do you get a spoiled kid for Christmas?

So when the Badgers took down No. 6 Duke at the Kohl Center last night, it meant different things for each team. For UW, it was a signature win, revenge for a defeat in Durham two years ago, and hopefully, will remind the nation to never doubt Bo Ryan. For Duke, I imagine it was a head-scratcher, even if it was a game they expected to be a challenge — a challenge they were supposed to meet, though.

But there’s no shame in losing to the Badgers, even when they’re unranked.

Ryan isn’t coach K — but he’s no pushover either. Since taking over at UW, Ryan’s squad has made the NCAA Tournament every year he’s coached and pushed UW’s consecutive appearance streak to 11 years. That’s the fifth-longest active streak in the nation, behind Arizona, Kansas, Duke and Michigan State.

Pretty good company, eh?

And UW has tended to make the most out of those appearances. The Badgers made it to the Sweet 16 twice under Ryan, and past the first round every year but 2006. Wisconsin has averaged a respectable No. 6 seed in the tournament during the Ryan Era.

Of course, Krzyzewski made five Sweet 16’s and a Final Four in that span. Duke’s average seed since coach K started? A No. 2 seed. Despite UW’s recent success, especially at home, this was still an upset.

But when you’re Duke, you don’t get the chance for those upsets. You play almost every game trying to avoid the upset rather than hoping for one. You don’t get to rush the court like the Grateful Red so gleefully did last night. Where’s the fun in that?

Wisconsin men’s sports are in the perfect position: good enough to contend, but not usually favored. The Badgers know they have a chance year in and year out, but if the football team were to get to the Rose Bowl, or the hockey team to the Frozen Four, well, that’s something to get excited about. Obviously every team’s goal is to win a title; the only difference between Northwestern and North Carolina is how realistic that goal is year in and year out.

As nice as it would be to become a perennial national powerhouse, I like where the Badgers are right now — somewhere just behind the elite. There are still always expectations — but the dividing line between success and failure is just high enough that you can still be satisfied without shooting for the moon. I don’t want to get to the point as a fan where too much of a good thing is never enough — dashed hopes are always better than unmet expectations.

So enjoy the Badgers’ well-deserved win over Duke. If you were lucky enough to be jumping around at mid-court after the upset, savor the feeling. And just remember, that was something fans in Durham, Chapel Hill and New York almost never get.

Adam is a junior majoring in journalism. Would you rather be a dominant team, or be able to play for the upset? E-mail him at [email protected]