"Bandwagon fans", "Pains me to give Duke credit": Blue Devils’ social media dominance sparks hilarious reactions from fans

By Koby del Rosario

Modified Apr 16, 2025 11:20 GMT

NCAA Basketball: Final Four National Semifinal-Houston at Duke - Source: Imagn — 2044-2025 Duke Blue Devils. - Source: Robert Deutsch, Imagn

The Duke Blue Devils, coached by Jon Scheyer, were unsuccessful in their national championship hunt in the recently concluded campaign. On April 5, they lost 70-67 to the Houston Cougars in the NCAA Final Four of this year's national tournament.

However, the loss hasn't stopped the Blue Devils from being one of the most popular team in social media for men's college basketball. In a Reddit thread posted by Brigzay on CollegeBasketball, a statistical graphic shows that Duke's Instagram account is the most followed one among all programs as it has 1.7 million followers. The next closest is their rival, North Carolina, with 593,000.

College basketball fans shared their reactions on the Reddit thread on the statistic that shows Duke's social media dominance.

Other users, presumably part of other fanbases other than the Blue Devils faithful, then let out their own reactions to the prompt.

The Blue Devils had a considerably successful 2024-25 campaign that saw them finish with an overall of 35-4 and 19-1 during this year's ACC play, winning the conference regular season championship and conference tournament title from.

Duke Blue Devils star Cooper Flagg is the highest NIL-valued college basketball athlete

Perhaps one of the leading factors why the Duke Blue Devils are still the most followed men's college basketball teams is because Cooper Flagg ($4.8 million, as per On3) is the player with the highest NIL value for the sport.

In what seems to be a one-and-done stint at Duke, Flagg paced the squad with team-highs in the five major statstical categories, with 19.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per contest. He's set to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft should he declare for it.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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