LAHAINA » A slight smile crossed the face of Mike Krzyzewski. The legendary Duke head coach knew the question was coming.

That tends to happen when you set the Division I college basketball record for wins a mere six days before appearing in the loaded 2011 EA Sports Maui Invitational. Last Tuesday, Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils pushed him past his mentor, Bob Knight, with his 903rd career victory, a 74-69 defeat of Michigan State in New York.

"It is good to get out of the way. It sounds like something bad: ‘You want to get it out of the way,’ " Krzyzewski said at a tournament press conference on Sunday. "It’s a focus on something you wouldn’t want focused on. You want your team focused on the development of the team."

His mind was undoubtedly on today’s first-round matchup against Tennessee, and on protecting Duke’s undefeated record (12-0) in four previous trips to Maui.

The sixth-ranked Blue Devils (4-0) are again the favorite to win the Maui championship at the Lahaina Civic Center on Wednesday, but several elite programs will have a shot to shatter Duke’s paradise perfection first. Other ranked teams in the field include (pending the latest AP poll) No. 10 Memphis, No.12 Kansas and No. 17 Michigan. UCLA was ranked before stumbling twice and has the talent to pose a problem. Tennessee is confident and Georgetown could be a sleeper. Even host Chaminade knows it has nothing to lose.

Some on Sunday, like ESPN analyst Jay Bilas and Maui Invitational tournament chair Dave Odom, tossed around the idea that the 2011 field is the best in this event’s 28 years, and by definition, the best the sport has seen in an early-season tournament.

The dean of Maui coaches — Duke’s four titles is a record — wasn’t necessarily buying that, even though five of the eight teams in the field are former national champions.

"They’ve all been good," Krzyzewski said. "Everyone says the next one is the best one ever, but that’s why it’s been as good a tournament as there is. Because they’ve always had great fields, and this one measures up to any of the ones in the past."

So yes, Krzyzewski’s mind was on the competition and getting the team he considers "the most inexperienced of the ones I’ve brought" ready for the task at hand. Duke lost two players, Kyrie Irving and Nolan Smith, to the NBA Draft after a 32-5 season in 2010-11, but has returning talent in junior guard Seth Curry and junior forward Mason Plumlee.

Even with other big-name coaches such as Kansas’ Bill Self, UCLA’s Ben Howland and Georgetown’s John Thompson III in this year’s mix, there was a palpable air of deference toward the man who led the United States’ 2008 Olympics "Redeem Team" to gold.

"You’re talking about one of the best, not only teams, but probably the best coach to ever coach the game at the college level," first-year Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin said.

Said Chaminade coach Eric Bovaird: "I’ve been watching Coach K for years, and analyze as much as I can the things he does. The way he deals with players. You know, when he speaks, people listen."

After weighing in on the present, Krzyzewski allowed himself a moment to reflect on the night (and Knight) that was.

"When it happened, it happened in an unbelievable venue in Madison Square Garden, and my coach (Knight) was there," Krzyzewski said. "So that setting could not have been better, because if you did it in another time, Coach might not have been there."

Duke’s record four perfect runs here (2007, 2001, 1997 and 1992) are but an aside to the Krzyzewski résumé; four is also his haul of NCAA championships, though they’ve never come in the same season as a Maui title.

Only North Carolina (13-2) has more wins on Maui, but that could change today. The Blue Devils and Volunteers tip off at 12:30 p.m., after the Michigan-Memphis opener at 10 a.m. The evening games are UCLA-Chaminade at 4:30 and Georgetown-Kansas at 7. All are televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU.