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OK, folks. It's that time of the year again. So paint your faces, grab your thunder sticks and gather all your friends, make sure they know exactly when to yell "YOU SUCK!" after each player from an opposing team is introduced.

Is Josh McRoberts worthy of star status after passing on the NBA to stay at Duke? (Getty Images)

It's Friday, Oct. 13, and that can only mean one thing. Or two things. But the second thing is about horror movies and misfortune, and I'm not here to write about Jason, unless it's Jason Chappell (Wisconsin), Jason Rich (Florida State) or Jason Fraser (Villanova). No, I'm here to write about this Friday the 13th in a different form, the form that has schools across the country enjoying Midnight Madness, though these days most are neither at midnight nor maddening.

But that's beside the point.

Practices officially begin today.

That's the point.

And that means we're only 25 days from the start of another college basketball season, when everything gets underway with ... (drum roll, please) ... New Orleans at Vermont! Starting with a bang, it is not. But it's still starting, and that's better than the alternative, even if many programs could use additional time to get a grip on what's to come.

As Smokey might say -- or was it the Bandit? -- some teams have a long way to go, and a short time to get there. Regardless, the days will keep peeling off the calendar as surely as freshmen will be forgetting to not stop on screens, because, as Sir Walter Scott once put it -- and I'm paraphrasing -- time waits for no inbounds play.

There are 25 days until the season starts.

I present 25 questions that must be addressed.

1. Can Josh McRoberts be a star? Coach K's greatest recruiting achievement wasn't landing freshmen talents Lance Thomas and Gerald Henderson, it was luring McRoberts back to Duke despite guaranteed NBA money on the table. Now, McRoberts, coming off a back injury, has to show he's worthy of star status. If he's not, Duke won't be the dominant Duke we're all used to watching. If he is, the Blue Devils will be fine without J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams.

2. Can Gonzaga find a post threat? Ask Mark Few about his biggest concern heading into this season, and he'll tell you it's not trying to find somebody to score 28 points a game from the wing like Adam Morrison did last year (I know, because I asked him last week). Instead, it's trying to find somebody who can score with his back to the basket, like J.P. Batista did in 2005-06 (19.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game), and Ronny Turiaf did before him. Will the next Gonzaga big man, please stand up (please stand up. .. please stand up)? And quick-like.

3. Can losing three guards in a four-guard offense be overcome? Jay Wright has the task of not only replacing NBA guards Randy Foye, Kyle Lowery and Allan Ray, but he has to re-adjust his offense to a more conventional style. The good news is that Curtis Sumpter, one of the best wings in the nation, is back at Villanova after missing last season with an injury. But that doesn't mean there's not a challenge ahead of the Wildcats, who can't afford to slip too much given the talent surrounding them in the Big East.

4. Can the Greg Oden era be OK without Greg Oden? For well over a year, this was marked as the season Ohio State would ride perhaps the best freshman center in two decades. Thad Matta even scheduled accordingly, agreeing to games against North Carolina (Nov. 29) and Florida (Dec. 23). But now Ohio State will likely have to play those contests without Oden, who is recovering from wrist surgery. Consequently, the schedule looks more overwhelming than fun, and Matta's job will be to figure out how to survive until his shot-swatting big man is ready to make a college debut.