As the tournament begins, we're already suffering from Duke fatigue

Our country is divided in so many ways. It seems that every day is an internet battle between political ideologies. With social media, everyone can make judgments about others' life decisions. We fight over LeBron vs. Jordan. Does a straw have one hole or two?

One thing we can agree on: We all are tired of hearing about Duke.

Of course, that isn't totally true as, after all, where do the Cameron Crazies come from? There is, however, a sizable part of the sports world that has grown weary of Duke basketball. Duke games on television. Duke players get all the attention. Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke. This isn't a new development, but this has become one of the top Duke-hating seasons.

Blame ESPN for a lot of that hate. Before the 2018-2019 season even started, the Worldwide Leader cranked up the hype with its Duke-centric "Earn Everything" docu-series on its new internet platform, ESPN+. The eight episodes worked similarly to HBO's "Hard Knocks" series in that it got behind the curtain of Mike Krzyzewski's program as it integrated one of the best recruiting classes ever. Many people felt that was too excessive to feature a program that way and fed into Duke haters' feelings that the network loves them some Blue Devils.

Why wouldn't anyone think that? While even Duke haters will admit that freshman Zion Williamson has been sensational this season, ESPN seemingly has been a bit over the top with praise. It's taken every opportunity to laud him as the greatest talent to come out of college basketball since, who, Shaq? When Williamson blew out of his shoe against North Carolina, he was given legendary freak status that night. "What kind of athletic marvel could do something like that?" Well, Manu Ginobili once did it.

Even a graphic ESPN used on social media was panned because it valued Williamson as the equal to Michael Jordan and Christian Laettner.

For days after the shoe incident and Williamson's injury, the network spent most of its energy on all of its platforms to make decisions on what he should do with the rest of his Duke career. If you were a college basketball fan, you grew sick of "analysts" pushing for Williamson to kill his college career because it is meaningless. Every debate show and "SportsCenter" seemingly brought all of those who work there on air to discuss what they'd do if they were advising him. It was all about Williamson.

When Duke played Syracuse in its first game after the Williamson injury, ESPN had a camera locked in on his face as he sat on the bench. Really? It wasn't like the announcers weren't talking about him all game long to make up for his absence. I mean, a casual fan may not even know that anyone else played college basketball this season. North Carolina demolished Duke on the night Williamson's shoe exploded, and the network wrote it off as Duke mourning the loss of it star.

As Duke was preparing to face Syracuse in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, ESPN jumped on the news that Williamson would make his return and went all in on its Duke crush. It even placed a promo graphic for the game and conveniently left off the fact that Syracuse would also play in that game.

It really is a shame. All Williamson did this year was go to a program that had a chance to win. He performed well, and it isn't his fault how fame found him. He seems like a likable kid, and nearly every fan base in the nation...including the one in Chapel Hill...would have loved to have him blowing out their shoes. He personally has done nothing to contribute to the hate. That's how deep the fatigue around Duke goes. People are failing to truly enjoy a talent because he plays in Durham.

That's the Blue Devils. It is a bit cliche, but it is true: Either you love them or hate them. Their success over the last 35 years has turned Duke into one of those teams that you just can't stand. People hate the Dallas Cowboys, but their lack of success over the last two decades has made them mocked more than loathed. The Blue Devils are seemingly always in the mix to win a championship, which makes people roll their eyes when they see them playing on big stages and applaud a lot louder when they lose. I mean, did anyone really hate the New England Patriots before 2001? Duke was the Patriots before the Patriots.

Williamson is just the latest in a line of great players you just have to hate because they went to Duke. Danny Ferry. Laettner. Bobby Hurley. Jason Williams. Shane Battier. J.J. Redick. Grayson Allen. And those are just their great players. Guys like Greg Paulus, Steve Wojciechowski, Lee Melchionni, Jon Scheyer (the Scheyer Face!) and Chris Collins were as hated as their All-American counterparts. Even Duke fans can't make a list like this with all the players they hate from all the other schools combined.

Then there are the Cameron Crazies. Watching a basketball game played in Cameron is like watching a game in the baby room of a day care: constant crying mixed with joyful screams when the simplest of tasks are done in front of them, especially if one of those tasks is a flop or a slap of the floor. (To be fair, Duke doesn't do this as much anymore.)

Of course, what ties this all together is Krzyzewski. He is one of the most successful coaches in the history of college basketball — heck, all of sports. His five national championships trail only John Wooden. He is the winningest coach in college basketball history. From 1986 to 2001, Duke went to nine Final Fours and has been to 12 Final Fours since he took over.

But he is panned by the haters for his constant complaining to the referees despite a perception that his team already gets all the calls. He's the guy who complained about North Carolina's Dean Smith being held to a different standard than the rest of the ACC and then turned into that guy when Smith retired in 1997. You can't get away from him. 

He was the USA basketball coach for three Olympic Games. During the 2007 NCAA Tournament, he starred in State Farm commercials that bombarded viewers for three weeks. He suspended Allen "indefinitely" for continuing to show poor behavior, which turned out to be just one game. His detractors also love to point out his convenient leaves of absence as his team struggles. (He also had one during Allen's suspension.)

Which brings us back to this season. It started with talk about Duke possibly going undefeated. (It lost its sixth game of the season.) After they blew out Kentucky in their opener, people were openly wondering if the Blue Devils could beat an NBA team. It felt like a title was a foregone conclusion. Even as the team struggled a bit, every Duke loss has been excused away and blamed on the team not being healthy. Even Coach K dismissed the 3-3 performance to end the regular season as nothing to worry about.

So here we are. This year's Duke team is truly in a championship-or-bust situation. If it wins it, it will get all the spoils and even more coverage and love to crush the haters. If the Blue Devils don't win it, opposing fans from across the country will celebrate as if their own team won a national championship. Since 2007, Duke has won two national championships...and had three stunning first round losses... so this could go either way.

One thing is for certain: No team in this tournament will be covered as intensely as the Blue Devils.