I think it's very subjective, but the seeding last year was also very helpful for Duke. It's hard to definitively prove that Duke was given an advantage in their seeding, when comparing 8 seeds, 4 seeds, etc. from different brackets. But the teams in their bracket were all teams that Duke matched up extremely well with. Meaning less athletic teams that would be able to exploit the John Scheyer's, Zoubek's, etc. I don't feel like searching down the tournament bracket, I just remember seeing Duke's path and feeling like the selection committee made it extremely easy for them. You're right though, that VCU team was a difficult match-up, although Duke losing in the second round probably wasn't good for the tournament from a financial stand-point.
And working over referees is certainly a part of the game. It is necessary to lobby for calls and make the official feel like he is giving the opponenet an unfair advantage. It's part of the reason I hated having Bobby Bowden on the sidelines at FSU for so long...the guy can;t see the game and he's lobbying for calls. It was embarrassing to watch and you know he had no influence on officials whatsoever.
But Coach K is an absolute bully. And he's been called on it for years. He uses his stature as the best coach in the country to berate officials and belittle them. Not to mention, many people sense his relationship with the head of the officiating in the ACC leaves him a lot of extra wiggle-room.
And I don't feel like digging to deep into past articles, but I do recall an article from several years back showing calls in Cameron for Duke vs. when they are on the road and the disparity was rather large. It may even be in this thread somewhere, maybe when I have more time I'll dig around.
I certainly recall a game from Cameron when I was a student at FSU, where Alexander Johnson was absolutely treated like garbage, ejected from the game, and the officials absolutely stole a game from FSU. I feel like officiating has balanced out somewhat after a lot of backlash from the rest of the conference in terms of home cooking for the Dukies. I don't think it's just rehashed hyperbole either. Don't forget Coach K came into the ACC accusing UNC of getting preferential treatment. The tables have now turned...so be it. Just don't expect fans not to notice.
