-- Texas freshman Kevin Durant is averaging 34 points and 13.5 rebounds in his first four Big 12 games. Last night's 13-for-31 in the 105-103 triple-OT loss to Oklahoma State dropped him from 61.1 percent to 54.1 from the field. He is shooting 88.8 percent from the foul line.

-- Gonzaga had won 30 consecutive games against West Coast Conference opponents before losing, 80-75, at St. Mary's Monday.

-- Rutgers lost to De Paul, 60-37, Saturday, the Knights' lowest total of the shot-clock era, sort of the hoop equivalent of that 6-4 football game with Princeton back on the first day.

-- Looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament, first- and second-round games are scheduled for Columbus, Ohio. But Ohio State can't play there, because it is the host school.

-- When Georgetown lost Saturday at Pittsburgh, 74-69, it was the first loss under John Thompson III when scoring 69 or more points.

-- Every year, I try to find a BCS conference to ride hard with my NCAA Tournament selections. I also try to find another conference to eliminate. Have not found my eliminator, but the Pac-10 looks like my horse. How tough is this league? Home teams are just 13-14 in conference games. Five games have gone into overtime. UCLA, Oregon, Arizona and Washington State are a combined 59-8. Washington is 10-1 non-conference and 1-5 in the Pac-10.

-- I have never been a big RPI fan. It has always been more about whom you play than how you play. It simply does not measure the relative value of teams. It is a method of quantifying teams. I am just not sure it has any real meaning. I like to see a team on the floor. I don't really care whom you play or where you play. I want to know how you play. I think we would all agree No. 1 Florida, with three potential NBA lottery picks in its starting lineup, is really good. The RPI does not agree. Florida is No. 32. How can that be? I know because I understand the formula. I also know I don't care what the RPI says about Florida. Neither should you.