Duke got exactly what it needed out of October: two very different exhibitions (three if you count the glorified pickup game that was Countdown to Craziness) that forced Jon Scheyer's freshman‑heavy roster to solve problems on the fly.
The Blue Devils rallied from a one point halftime margin to polish off UCF at Cameron and then went on the road and beat a ranked Tennessee team in a sold‑out arena, coming back from a healthy deficit in the process. Those 80 minutes produced enough tape to fuel the next month of practices and - conveniently for us - enough storylines to frame the opener against Texas.
Below are seven big questions/observations we're taking into November, grounded in the box scores, the eye tests and coaches' quotes, plus how each issue intersects with what Texas will bring to Charlotte.