Paulus wouldn't quite say he's seen the opposition rattled because of the school name, but he came close.

"It's tough to see [the intimidation],'' said the guard, "but you know what it's like to watch Duke.''

Leading to the second question: What's it like preparing to play college basketball's version of the Kennedys?

"I used to watch [Williams] all the time,'' said WVU's Da'Sean Butler. "Then I went to a camp in the summer and saw him. Got to work out with him and play basketball with him a lot. I'd talk about playing Duke and he'd laugh and say, 'Ah, you don't want a piece of us.'

"It should be fun to get out there, though, playing them and showing the country what we can do.''

Mountaineer guard Darris Nichols considered the challenge.

"There's a little something added when you play a team like Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, teams like that,'' said the senior. "You just have to come out and give it your best shot - be aggressive.''

It helps, said Nichols, that his teams have played - and defeated - UCLA.

"We've played teams like Duke before, so it's nothing new,'' said the point guard. "We're not really coming in looking at it like we're playing Duke. We're looking at it as the team we're playing in the second round. They're a great team. But we're a great team, too.''

Forgetting the opponent is Duke is easier said than done, one would imagine. But almost to a man, WVU players shrugged off the Blue Devils' place in basketball lore.

"I think everyone knows a lot about Duke,'' said WVU guard Alex Ruoff. "You see them play a lot on TV. But I think we match up really well with them.''

The last time WVU played Duke, back in 1989, the Mountaineers didn't seem intimidated. The then-No. 2 seeded Blue Devils, however, received 20 points from Danny Ferry in a 70-63 win.

It will be interesting today. WVU indeed looked like the best team of the Thursday night session here.

But will the Mountaineers succumb to that four-letter word?

WVU coach Bob Huggins smiled.

"Usually,'' he said, "the guys on my team are more afraid of me than who we're playing.''

To contact staff writer Mitch Vingle, send e-mail to mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or call 348-4827.

But I'll bet many of you have the same wiring problem.

We can't think about Duke's basketball team without hearing Dick Vitale's voice.

They aren't the Blue Devils. They're the DOOKIES, BABY!

And at 2:10 p.m. today, they are West Virginia University's NCAA tournament second-round opponent at the Verizon Center.

It's a fascinating matchup because the Mountaineers are facing not only the 28-5 Blue Devils, but also the Duke mystique that's been burned into our brain by Vitale and the rest of our country's great hype producers.

There are the Cameron Crazies. There's coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will also guide our Olympians. There are the many marquee players who have played for the school.

This season, senior guard DeMarcus Nelson was Duke's All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team pick. There's also scrappy Greg Paulus.

But the blue-blood tradition runs deep. It includes national players of the year like Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Jason Williams and J.J. Redick.

There's Johnny Dawkins and Bobby Hurley. There's Carlos Boozer and even now-analyst Jay Bilas. There's Mike Gminski and everybody's favorite spoiled Duke poster boy, Christian Laettner.

It's never ending.

Krzyzewski has the most NCAA tournament victories (69) in Division I history. That's more than North Carolina's Dean Smith. More than UCLA's John Wooden.

Entering its game with West Virginia, Duke is ranked ninth in the polls. But the school has been ranked No. 1 a total of 79 weeks since 1990, 39 more weeks than the next closest school (North Carolina).

The Blue Devils have been the tournament's No. 2 seed seven times - and went to the Final Four in four of those tournaments.

Which elicits two questions. First: What's it like to be in the midst of Dukedom?

"It's pretty special to be part of it,'' Paulus said Friday. "When I was looking for a school, I wanted to be a part of the tradition and get a chance to play for Coach, which is unbelievable in itself.''

"It's challenging because every time we play, the other team gives us its best game,'' said sophomore guard Gerald Henderson. "The [opposing team] is very loose. It has nothing to lose.

"The other team plays us hard, no matter how good or bad it's been playing before it plays us. But we welcome that challenge.''

Paulus wouldn't quite say he's seen the opposition rattled because of the school name, but he came close.

"It's tough to see [the intimidation],'' said the guard, "but you know what it's like to watch Duke.''

Leading to the second question: What's it like preparing to play college basketball's version of the Kennedys?

"I used to watch [Williams] all the time,'' said WVU's Da'Sean Butler. "Then I went to a camp in the summer and saw him. Got to work out with him and play basketball with him a lot. I'd talk about playing Duke and he'd laugh and say, 'Ah, you don't want a piece of us.'

"It should be fun to get out there, though, playing them and showing the country what we can do.''

Mountaineer guard Darris Nichols considered the challenge.

"There's a little something added when you play a team like Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, teams like that,'' said the senior. "You just have to come out and give it your best shot - be aggressive.''

It helps, said Nichols, that his teams have played - and defeated - UCLA.

"We've played teams like Duke before, so it's nothing new,'' said the point guard. "We're not really coming in looking at it like we're playing Duke. We're looking at it as the team we're playing in the second round. They're a great team. But we're a great team, too.''

Forgetting the opponent is Duke is easier said than done, one would imagine. But almost to a man, WVU players shrugged off the Blue Devils' place in basketball lore.

"I think everyone knows a lot about Duke,'' said WVU guard Alex Ruoff. "You see them play a lot on TV. But I think we match up really well with them.''

The last time WVU played Duke, back in 1989, the Mountaineers didn't seem intimidated. The then-No. 2 seeded Blue Devils, however, received 20 points from Danny Ferry in a 70-63 win.

It will be interesting today. WVU indeed looked like the best team of the Thursday night session here.

But will the Mountaineers succumb to that four-letter word?

WVU coach Bob Huggins smiled.

"Usually,'' he said, "the guys on my team are more afraid of me than who we're playing.''

To contact staff writer Mitch Vingle, send e-mail to mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or call 348-4827.