The top ranked Duke Blue Devils dropped a two point decision to No. 7 Kansas on Tuesday as part of the 2016 State Farm Champions Classic in New York. Despite the setback, there's no reason to think this year's team isn't still the favorite. Here's why...

1. Duke Has Heart; Lacks Firepower For Now

The Blue Devils faced foul trouble, a short bench, and an overall shaky performance from both its best player and best post option. Against a near unanimous preseason Final Four selection. Accordingly, Duke fell behind by double figures. And then the team fought back with big shots, big stops, and the kind of grit you saw against Wisconsin in 2015’s title game and throughout last season. And, as you saw several times last season, Duke’s fight was enough to get the team to the cusp of winning, but the lack of depth and firepower couldn’t get them over the hump.

Luckily, unlike last season, there is help on the way as Coach Krzyzewksi and company will be adding Jayson Tatum, Marques Bolden, and Harry Giles to the roster in the coming days and weeks which will add rebounding, defense, and scoring. When they return, the big three will cure a lot of the problems Duke had to overcome against Kansas on Tuesday. What doesn’t need curing, however, is the fight this team seems to have. When Kansas pushed the lead to 10 with just over eight minutes remaining it seemed like the Blue Devils were done. Coach K said after the game that his team didn’t have a good look to it on the court or in the huddle. And then they fought back and tied the game with under 10 seconds left. Sure, they ultimately came up short, but having that kind of fight and showing the kind of character you’d expect from a group of upperclassmen who have been to the top of the college basketball world is invaluable when you also have elite talent. And there’s more on the way.

2. Coach K Has His Rotation Already

The mantra for the second half of the 2015 season was “Eight Is Enough” referring to the Blue Devils finishing the season with only eight scholarship players. Throughout his tenure at Duke Mike Krzyzewski has varied his rotation within a man or so of eight players getting major minutes in crucial games. Some years it’s nine. Others it’s seven. From the outside looking in, this year’s number will apparently be nine players when the three freshmen return. After playing the entirety of the available scholarship roster against Marist, things got tight against Grand Canyon early as the visitors held a lead for more than eight minutes. And so Coach K shortened the rotation while his team regained control of the game to a primary six of Grayson Allen, Luke Kennard, Matt Jones, Amile Jefferson, Chase Jeter, and Frank Jackson. Noticeable absent were Javin DeLaurier, Jack White, and Antonio Vrankovic. The same six man rotation was seen against Kansas in a game that was tight throughout. In fact only DeLaurier registered in the box score, earning less than a minute against the Jayhawks.

When Giles, Tatum, and Bolden are back, each will command at least 25 minutes per night which will reduce minutes for some of the top six, but also will seemingly further reduce the already limited roles for the end of the rotation guys in tightly contested games.

3. Far Be It For Us To Question…But….

That short rotation seemed to really bite Duke at the end of the game. Sure, the Blue Devils rallied, but fouls began mounting and ultimately took Amile Jefferson out of the game. Would it have been possible to maybe rotate in a big, athletic guy like DeLaurier or a big, strong center like Vrankovic to simply rebound and, if nothing else, absorb some of the many whistles heard throughout the night? Having Jefferson in the game at the end (instead of DQ’ed on the bench) could have given Duke a chance to, perhaps, better defend a dribble drive by Frank Mason. And you wonder if Jefferson’s length or even DeLaurier’s would have provided Mason a bit more resistance that was provided by Matt Jones sagging off. It seems like rotational questions are asked by onlookers each and every year in the Blue Devils’ corner of the college basketball world, and it’s likely that this won’t be an issue going forward as the three kids get healthy, but it was something to note against Kansas.

4. The Best Scorer Isn’t The NPOY Candidate

Grayson Allen is fearless. Grayson Allen is very tough. In fact, he played hurt (again) against Kansas and took his usual share of hard fouls. But what Grayson Allen also is, is in a slump. Against Kansas he shot 4-of-15 from floor and 1-of-7 from the perimeter. Some of that was due to injury. Some of that is due to the early season slump. Through three games Allen has missed 28 of 43 field goal attempts (.348) and is only 7-of-24 from the perimeter (.291). As with everything with Duke, he’ll likely benefit from the Blue Devils being at full strength when teams cannot just key in on him, but some of Allen’s issues stem from decisions with the ball and almost seeking out too much contact off the bounce.

With their junior lead struggling so much early, it’s hard to ignore the emergence of Luke Kennard as, potentially, Duke’s most complete scorer. Kennard was efficient and dynamic on Tuesday, leading all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed five rebounds (a point of emphasis for him in the offseason) and handed out five assists. Kennard still struggles on defense in man to man situations, but his offensive bag of tricks is enough to keep him well ahead of the game and he’s established himself as Duke’s most consistent offensive threat. It will be interesting how the offensive pecking order shakes out when everyone is back, but it’s a fair bet that Kennard’s ability find and place himself in scoring opportunities will translate as well as anyone’s stats to this point.

5. Chase Jeter Has The Potential To Be Really Good

Jeter didn’t play much last year, and there’s a line of thinking that he will have a reduced role when the team is healthy. While that may indeed happen down the line, the sophomore acquitted himself well enough on Tuesday. Jeter was active inside and played well against bigger players such as Landen Lucas and much bigger players such as Udoka Azubuike. Jeter still didn’t finish some of the baskets he probably should have, but there were a number of times he looked confident, fluid, and assertive. As a player who, age-wise, is a freshman, it’s certainly a big positive to get this kind of experience against top competition early in the season. With so much roster turnover coming in April, Jeter could be in line to earn these kinds of minutes over the next two years if he continues to improve at his current rate.