Duke Basketball: Ranking the 10 Teams Blue Devils Fans Hate Most

It is cool to hate Duke.

Google "Duke" and "hate" and the majority of the hits receive shows more contempt for Duke rather than Duke fans hating on any one team.

All teams have their sets of rivals, Duke is no different in this aspect.

Everyone knows of the storied rivalry with North Carolina, but does Duke's supporters hate them? Especially considering the better UNC does the better it makes the ACC and that trickles down to Duke's ranking or seed in the NCAA tournament.

Under the guide of Mike Krzyzewski, Duke has risen as one of the top teams in college basketball. Along the way they have made some "enemies."

Not to say Duke fans actually hate anyone, but there are a few teams that they relish beating. If a certain team's fans hate you it is highly unlikely you will love them in return.

The prudent thing to do here, especially in sports, is to return the hate two fold.

Obviously, hate in this context does not mean to harm or injure anyone.

Hate in this context means passionate about beating that said team.

I have compiled a list of teams I think Duke hate the most.

No. 10: St John's Red Storm

Last season Duke travelled to New York for an out of conference meet with the Red Storm. Duke was ranked No. 1.

That game was meant to be a game to rack up an out of conference win and renew ties with St Johns. No one saw the beat down the Red Storm gave Duke.

They will play each other early next year. Surely some payback is at hand.

No. 9: NC State

An NC State fan would look at this list and think "wow, finally some respect!" while a Duke fan would just laugh. This is the perception Mark Gottried is trying to change.

Good luck to him.

No. 8: Virginia Tech

Who remembers the days of Deron Deron Washington? His antics used to infuriate Duke every time they played. Washington used to take great pleasure in trying to beat Duke.

The last time Virginia Tech beat Duke, their coach, Seth Greenberg, was said to be emotional after the game. Duke was ranked No.1 and the Hokies were on the bubble, so it was a great win for them.

Virginia Tech has the distinction of spoiling Duke's No. 1 ranking twice since joining the ACC in 2005.

They beat Duke earlier this year when they were the top ranked team. They also beat Duke in 2006.

No. 7: Forida State

Florida State is emerging as the third team in the ACC to beat. As a matter of fact, they should make some noise in the upcoming season for top dog in the ACC.

If Duke fans do not hate playing them yet it will happen shortly.

No. 6: Georgia Tech

2003/04 Georgia Tech had it's best team. They eventually made it top the Final Four.

Duke had some great games with them that year. Georgia Tech hasn't been a winning team yearly, but that will change with new coach Brian Gregory.

Especially now that the ACC has decided to add Syracuse and Pitt.

A lot of the new coaches to the ACC, including Gregory, have been put on notice—quietly.

Become relevant or take a back seat to these four juggernauts: UNC, Duke, Syracuse and Pitt.

If a team has a high chance of beating you, you will hate them, right? Especially if their fans are smug about it?

No. 5: North Carolina State

Since Sidney Lowe's tenure five years ago, Duke has had nothing to fear from the Wolfpack. That might change with the recent hiring of Mark Gottfried.

According to GoDuke.com, next to North Carolina, the Wolfpack were once Duke's biggest rivals.

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But in historical terms, Duke’s long rivalry with N.C. State dwarfs its recent duel with the Terps. The two Triangle schools have battled for 99 years—and for much of the time, they’ve battled for supremacy on Tobacco Road.

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North Carolina State has not made the NCAA tournament in five years. If Gottfried brings them back to prominence, no doubt this rivalry will grow legs again.

No. 4: Kentucky Wildcats

Historically there have been three teams Duke fans could say they actually hate: UNLV Runnin Rebels of the early 90's, the Fab Five and Kentucky.

Michigan is only now on it's way back to prominence after the Fab five and later teams got it in trouble with the NCAA. UNLV has not been on the same level since Gerry Tarkanian left.

Kentucky is currently one of the best teams in college basketball going into next season.

Ever since Christian Laettner's simulated stomping on a UK player in 1992, Kentucky fans have been chomping at the bit to get back at Duke.

These teams haven't played each other since 2001, when Duke defeated the Wildcats in a overtime game in the Jimmy V classic.

Kentucky has the slight edge in the overall record (11 - 8) but Duke won six of the last seven games.

Things heated up over the summer when Calipari declared that "Duke will not play us."

Not sure what the real story was here, but Duke Basketball Report responded with the following:

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We’re not privy to any negotiations, but there have been published reports that Duke and Kentucky have talked about it in the recent past and there was an interest.  For whatever reason it hasn’t happened.

Here’s a reasonable guess: given the venom that still comes out of Lexington, nearly 20 years after The Shot, why would anyone from Duke wish to play there?  It’s an unhealthy atmosphere which comes from the inability of Kentucky fans to deal with reality.

Nothing other than a win could come out of such a trip, and the rest would be bad, particularly if Duke did win. Or maybe Duke’s just waiting for him to win his 500th before deeming him a worthy challenger.

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Guess neutral sites and the NCAA tournament will have to do for now, if these two storied teams wish to play each other.

That last reference about the 500th game is in regard to vacated wins in Calipari's past.

There might be some resentment, because Coach K was made to undertake his assistant Pete Gaudette's losses when he coached Duke in 1995, while Coach K recovered from an injury.

Meanwhile, Kentucky had to postpone a ceremony to celebrate Coach Calipari's 500th win because they included wins that were vacated at Memphis and UMass.

These two teams want to meet but the logistics might be the issue, currently it has to be the NCAA tournament.

No. 3: Maryland Terrapins

Gary Williams is not around anymore. Nor is Greivis Vasquez. Over the years these two teams have had their issues and no doubt that will continue with new coach, Mark Turgeon, at the helm.

Even though Duke has bad the better teams over the years, the fan interaction has always been rife with hostility.

The Washington Post named Maryland the fifth worst sports fans in America because of their tendency to riot in big wins, especially over Duke, or poor loses.

Duke normally meets Maryland twice annually.

Shelden Williams once had a triple double against Maryland as a senior, because he was haunted by taunts Terrapin fans sent his way as a freshman.

No. 2: UConn Huskies

Twice they denied Duke a championship and now they want to join the ACC. This will be epic.

Duke fans will remember losing to UConn in the 1999 finals. Then failing to get by UConn in the 2004 Final Four.

Oh yea, there is a rivalry here, just not spoken about as much as the other more high profile cases.

Both these teams were on a collision course before Arizona got in the way and bounced Duke from the last NCAA tournament.

UConn joining the ACC will bring this quiet storm of a rivalry to the forefront.

No. 1: North Carolina Tar Heels

This is arguably one of the greatest rivalries in college basketball. Of course Duke fans hate this team! They are probably the only team on this list that the Duke massive are likely to embrace the word "hate" to it's entirety.

Two schools just eight miles apart, in the same conference with a history of success.

Games between these two schools are always epic. Every minor infraction is noted by the fans of both schools and debated to death.

As a matter of fact, this is probably the safest rivalry in all of sports. In some parts of the world a person could lose their lives for wearing the wrong jersey.

With Duke or North Carolina the most fans will probably endure is some name calling of the PG variety, e.g. Dookies or Tar Holes.