We all know that Stuart Scott has a huge bias towards the Tar Heels, and I can accept that. What I don’t understand is why Jay Bilas, a former Duke player, seems to have an anti-Duke bias on ESPN. It is a good professional move to appear to be unbiased, but Bilas takes it too far by repeatedly failing to give Duke credit where credit is due. The latest example of this anti-bias is this week’s Power 16 poll, in which Bilas leaves Duke completely out of his top 16 despite our number 6 national ranking (admittedly a bit inflated). We may not be deserving of a top 6 ranking, but I find it hard to believe that we are worse than Oklahoma State, Oregon, or even MARYLAND, his number 11 team (are you kidding me?! They dropped out of the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll this week!). Jay is a solid analyst, but it is getting harder and harder to take his opinions regarding his alma mater seriously.
Source: ESPN’s Power 16: Expert Lists, Dec. 14