1. Duke coach Mike Kryzewski was informative in an interview during "Katz Korner" on Tuesday. The highlights were: Senior forward Ryan Kelly is just now getting off crutches, is a month removed from suffering the right-foot injury -- and it doesn't sound like he's returning any time soon; Duke will not schedule Maryland in a non-conference game once the Terps move to the Big Ten in 2014, essentially ending the rivalry; the 2013 Duke team isn't close to being as good as the 2010 national title contender; Shane Larkin has been a difference-maker for Miami, and the Hurricanes' run to the top of the ACC has been extremely impressive; there is still no change in Coach K's decision on whether to coach the USA senior national team.
2. Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips will, instead of wins and losses, have to use a different way to review the Wildcats and coach Bill Carmody in the offseason after yet another injury. Carmody simply cannot catch a break at Northwestern. The latest setback was the season-ending knee injury to Jared Swopshire. The Wildcats had a real shot at an NCAA tournament bid this season but losing Drew Crawford and JerShon Cobb took away any realistic chance. If everyone comes back healthy and some of the schools ahead of Northwestern in the Big Ten standings lose players early to the NBA draft, as expected, the Wildcats should be an upper-half team next season in their quest for a first-ever NCAA berth.
3. Here is a question to digest and one we talked about on "The Experts" on Tuesday: Are all conference road losses created equal? Should Kansas be disciplined in the NCAA seeding process for losing at TCU as much as Indiana State should be for losing at Missouri State? These are the type of nuance questions the committee will have to ask itself during a mock selection process this weekend -- and again when they meet to fill the field in mid-March.
