ATLANTA—Normally, a team playing without its best player against the No. 3 team in the country would be a disaster.

Before David Cutcliffe resurrected Duke, he helped resurrect the career of Peyton Manning. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

DURHAM—In between his coaching duties to the only team that controls its own destiny in the ACC Coastal Division, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe keeps in touch with his former players and friends. Monday night, he spent 50 minutes on the phone with perhaps his most famous former tutee: Peyton Manning.

Manning was back in North Carolina for a game against the Panthers Sunday, and it was the first time he had come back to the state after spending the winter rehabbing  with Cutcliffe at Duke. Manning picked apart the Panthers defense, going 27-of-38 for 301 yards and a touchdown in the Denver Broncos’ 36-14 win.

Cutcliffe, who was Manning’s quarterback coach at Tennessee, said Manning was emotional about his return to the Tar Heel State, and the two reminisced about reuniting last winter.

Duke needs length on the floor against Kentucky, so expect to see more of Amile Jefferson or Alex Murphy. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Duke vs. Kentucky
When:  9:30 p.m.

Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta

TV/radio: ESPN/ WKIX-102.9 FM

One-sentence summary that links to longer explanation: Experience meets youth. 

Projected starting lineups

Duke forward Mason Plumlee took more shots than any other Blue Devils player, and that's how Mike Krzyzewski wants it. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

DURHAM—Like Mason Plumlee tipping in misses during a rebounding drill, here's a few quick hits right before I leave Cameron: 

***Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter wasn’t down on his team after the game. But he summed up the difference between the two squads nicely.

“They’ve got McDonald’s guys, and we’ve got Burger King guys,” he said.

The analogy continued.

10:50 p.m. update

DURHAM—In Duke’s opening game in the season, there were a few notable surprises.

The outcome, though, was not one of them.

The Blue Devils (1-0) were able to easily dispatch Georgia State 74-55. The Panthers (0-1) trailed by 10 at halftime, and a 15-6 Duke run at the beginning of the second half essentially put the game out of reach. Mason Plumlee, the previously announced centerpiece of the offense, led the team with 19 points and 14 rebounds. The overall personnel the Blue Devils used to earn the victory, though, would have been hard to predict before the opening tip.

Duke will be counting on Rasheed Sulaimon for both lockdown defense and dribble-drive ability on offense. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Note: click here for links to our Duke-specific season preview content. Also, click here to read Tuesday's story about Seth Curry's injury status. As noted below, Curry is projected to start. 

Georgia State at Duke

When: 7 p..m

Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham

TV/Radio: ESPNU/102.9 FM

Projected Starting lineups:

 The five winning designs for this year's Duke Children's Hospital Cards. 

Mike Krzyzewski has been at Duke 33 years. For 32 of those, he has been the chairman of the Duke Children's Card Program.

Every year, the Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center hold a contest in which kids from all over North Carolina submit designs for all-occasion and holiday card contest. Wednesday morning, Krzyzewski introduced each of the artists and their designs and also filmed a few TV and radio advertisements with the winners.

He also asked each of them about the ideas behind their designs.

Duke is the second-most popular college athletic program in North Carolina, according to the Wall Street Journal. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Note: On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal ran an article and graphic under the headline "College Football's Battleground States." The article began as follows:

"On this Election Day, it's fitting to spend a little time talking about America's battleground states: the ones with the most ferocious in-state college-football rivalries, that is."

In the case of North Carolina, that's not exactly entirely accurate.

Duke's magical run could extend all the way to the ACC Championship game. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Despite not playing this week, there is a chance that Duke's path to the ACC Championship game could become significantly clearer.

Miami may opt to self-impose a bowl ban for the second straight season, interim athletic director Blake James told Michael Casagrande of the South Florida Sun Sentinel after the Hurricane's win over Virginia Tech. Blake said he and University president Donna Shalala will make the decision and added that, "It’s not a decision that we have to make right now.”

“It’s an institutional call, so it will be Donna and myself and consultation with the people we have involved with the NCAA case,” James said.

Rasheed Sulaimon's offensive development could be key in Duke's scoring success. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

For today's three-dimensional edition, I wrote a story laying out what we know about Seth Curry's leg injury. Check it out.

Without Curry, Duke lacks an elite outside scorer (Andre Dawkins's absence is felt here). Ryan Kelly is the second-best shooter on the team, per Mike Krzyzewski, but he has to be more consistent if, with Curry gone, he's the No. 1 outside option. For instance, Kelly closed his season last year with a season-high, 23-point performance against Wake Forest (7-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc) followed by a 2-point game against North Carolina (1-for-8 and 0-of-5, respectively).