In his first spin as the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee chairman, Princeton Athletic Director Gary Walters says he knows what to expect in the second week of March. "When I have observed the chairs, I don't know many that got through the process without actually being sick by the end," Walters said in a teleconference last week. "There's so much effort put into it.

" Walters, in his fifth year as part of the committee, serves this year as the public face of the 10-person body charged with the most scrutinized administrative task the NCAA performs. Starting March 7, Walters and his committee will choose the NCAA Tournament's 34 at-large teams, then bracket them with 31 automatic qualifiers to create fodder for office pools everywhere. The committee met in Indianapolis two weeks ago to review the work its members have done.

By geographic region, they monitor every Division I conference throughout the season, with information gleaned by watching games, computer research and teleconferences with conference commissioners. It also helps sort out what figures to be a cluttered collection of teams after the nation's top few. Walters hinted the selections might be a bit different this year because of the parity.

First, he said, a major-conference team with a bunch of victories has guaranteed itself nothing. With teams allowed to play in exempt early-season tournaments each year, some will have played as many as 35 games before the NCAAs. All of those victories, then, also may mean a bunch of losses.

"There's always been this notion out there that achieving a 20-win season is a precursor for getting into the tournament," Walters said. "That's just not the case." Also, the pack in the middle may make conference tourneys a bit more meaningful.

To prepare better for crazy situations in the final games before the NCAAs, Walters has elected to start the at-large selections the Wednesday before Selection Sunday, a day earlier than usual. "We can look at the seeding process once we've selected any number of at-large teams, get that started earlier," Walters said. "That hopefully will then give us a little bit more time to anticipate some of the contingencies.

" Texas freshman F Kevin Durant, probably the leading contender to win national player-of-the-year honors, may return for his sophomore season -- or so his dad told The Dallas Morning News. "There's a chance he would come back to Texas next year," said Wayne Pratt, a police officer at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Right now, it looks as though Durant would be the second pick in the draft, behind Ohio State freshman C Greg Oden, who also has talked about staying in school. Memphis will host the 2008 Conference USA Tournament. That's something UCF, in conjunction with the Central Florida Sports Commission, should be interested in hosting down the line, either at its new facility or -- more likely -- at the new downtown arena (presuming, of course, the thing gets built).

Monday, Kansas at Kansas State, 9 p.m.: The Jayhawks blasted Bob Huggins' Wildcats by 27 earlier this month.

K-State could use a marquee victory to polish up its NCAA resume. Tuesday, Wisconsin at Michigan State, 7 p.m.

: Michigan State has lost four of its past six games to come to a rest astride the NCAA bubble. A victory here will get the Spartans closer to an NCAA bid. Tuesday, Air Force at UNLV, 10 p.

m.: UNLV has an excellent Ratings Percentage Index (in the top 15 heading into the weekend), and a victory here would eliminate any questions about UNLV's NCAA worthiness. Wednesday, Florida State at Maryland, 9 p.

m.: FSU is stumbling down the stretch and needs to win against a fellow Atlantic Coast Conference bubble team.