1. Miami president Donna Shalala is right. Leave the university alone at this point and let the self-imposed sanctions on the football team and the individual hits to the basketball players stand as punishment from the case. The NCAA case is already tainted by the admission of wrongdoing by the enforcement staff in soliciting information by paying the attorney who was representing the key accuser in the case. The NCAA has lost all its credibility on this case, and for that matter in enforcement, now that at least three members of the staff have been fired over the past year. NCAA president Mark Emmert called the episode embarrassing but stopped short of saying he should be personally responsible for what occurred under his watch. He said if the board of directors wanted to discipline him then they will. Well, they should. He has failed to lead whether he has a say or not, the NCAA membership has lost faith in the organizational headquarters. The breakup of conferences is done by presidents and conference commissioners but Emmert has also been rendered useless in trying to stop or mediate any of it from occurring. The Miami mess occurred under his watch. He owns it. And if the board of directors cares about the perception of the office then he should be held accountable.

2. Georgetown coach John Thompson III and Maryland coach Mark Turgeon both said there is a chance the Georgetown-Maryland series will resume in the future during our ESPNU college basketball podcast Monday. They stopped short of going further, indicating this could be in the works in some form. Of course, the issue of when and where to play the game will have to be cleared. The best solution probably would be a straight home-and-home series since putting the game in the Verizon Center and splitting the tickets may not work for Maryland considering it is still Georgetown’s home court. If this ever happens it could become the Beltway's version of Xavier-Cincinnati.

3. I would love to see four of the top five in the AP poll make it to Atlanta. Having Indiana, Miami, Gonzaga, Michigan State or Florida would provide plenty of terrific storylines, history -- mostly modern -- and drama. I’m also pleased to see the respect growing for teams outside the "power six" in the polls that will factor in March: Butler (15), New Mexico (16), Memphis (21), Colorado State (22), VCU (24) and teams nearly in the poll in Saint Louis, Louisiana Tech and a bit further away in Akron and Middle Tennessee State.