Redemption can drive the Blue Devils to Detroit

It was a subtle change for the Blue-White game. Each 15-minute half would start with the score tied at 45, simulating an end-of-game situation.

But it's a lesson that should be applied to Duke's entire season-one in which the Blue Devils will be judged almost exclusively by what happens in March.

It is a right and a burden earned by the four letters stitched across the players' sternums that regular seasons mean little in Durham. Coming off consecutive seasons in which Duke did not advance past the NCAA Tournament's first weekend, that magnification of March is only exacerbated this year.

Last season went a long way toward disproving the spurious and reactionary accusations that the program was in decline. A Maui Invitational title, a blowout victory over Big Ten Tournament champion Wisconsin and a win in Chapel Hill had the Blue Devils ranked as high as No. 2.

But the good vibrations of the season's first four months were wiped out in March, when Duke went 2-3 in its last five games.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski attributed the swoon to increased pressure on a young team. Fresh off his gold medal with the Redeem Team in Beijing, Krzyzewski hopes to assume some of that burden himself this time around.

"We should be able to handle success and sustain success better than I've been able to teach it, especially during last season, to our guys, so that it doesn't become a burden," Krzyzewski said in a pre-season press conference. "I think it had somewhat of an effect on our team last year, and it's my responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen this year."

It's undeniable that the Blue Devils' struggles last March were not an isolated incident. In the seven years since Duke's last national title, the Blue Devils have been upset in the Tournament six times.

So, it's time for Duke to flip the script in its approach to the regular season. The first four months of the campaign? Inconsequential. Because nobody remembers how you whipped Wisconsin when it's the Badgers playing deeper in March.

The focus needs to be on progress, on peaking at the right time and on putting players in the right spot to prosper in the postseason.

It doesn't mean wholesale changes; it means that maybe Brian Zoubek isn't pulled after his first traveling violation so that Kyle Singler can get a longer breather in a January game against N.C. State.

Krzyzewski has already considered taking a new, Olympic-infused perspective this time around.

The Blue Devils need only look at Team USA to uncover how to shed the label-however undeserved-of big-game underachievers.

"Last year, we had a hell of a year. And I need to make sure that we have a hell of a year the whole year," Krzyzewski said. "That doesn't mean we're going to win the NCAA or whatever, but we could.

"Last year, the way we were, we couldn't."

And that's the thing: This year, Duke is built to compete for a national championship, more so than in the last two rebuilding seasons.

This might even be the Blue Devils' best chance to cut down the nets since their repeat bid in 2002-the last time they boasted a roster that was both experienced and deep.

Krzyzewski successfully handled one of the deepest rosters in basketball history in Beijing; now it's time for him to show off what he learned. Because this time, Duke's ambitions stretch far beyond a 22-1 start and a No. 2 national ranking in February.

March, and dare we say April, beckon these Blue Devils, who will look beyond their program's past and instead toward a future of fulfillment.

After all, what's redemption when a championship is within reach?