NEW YORK -- Eight teams will tip off the 2002-03 season Thursday and Friday in the AT&T Wireless Classic. But only Texas will walk away with a realistic gauge of where it stands. Win or lose.

The other seven teams aren't complete. Each is either dealing with eligibility or injury issues -- or both.

Alabama will be missing the most Thursday night when it opens against ESPN.com's preseason No. 1 team Oklahoma (ESPN2, 9 ET). Starting freshman forward Kennedy Winston is still ineligible while Alabama investigates alleged extra benefits he received prior to arriving at Alabama. Reserve freshman forward Lucky Williams will begin his NCAA-imposed 14-game suspension. And reserve guard Antoine Pettway is hobbled by a knee injury. All of this means more time for sophomore Earnest Shelton.

	“	If we play with poise, make easy plays and are unselfish then I'll walk out of here very coolly. ”
		— John Calipari, Memphis head coach

"You can still get a read on your team because you'll find out where you're weak," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "You'll get exposed in areas where you need additional scoring. But it's the middle of November. No one is going to get too high or too low. Last year I would have bet my house that Iowa would have been an NCAA team after I saw them in the Guardians Classic (in November)."

Memphis is down four bodies for Thursday night's opener against Syracuse (ESPN2, 7 ET). The Orangemen, meanwhile, will be without starting point guard Billy Edelin, who played in an unsanctioned men's league last year while he wasn't a student in Syracuse. The NCAA denied Edelin's appeal and on Thursday suspended him for the first 12 games of the season.

"On a short term basis we'll go with Gerry McNamara," Boeheim said. "But we are better with Billy. Until we get Billy back, we prepare half one way and half the other way. Billy is the only penetrating guy who can make plays and get out of a tough situation to make a play."

But don't expect Edelin's absence to mean freshman of the year favorite Carmelo Anthony will be slowed.

"He's pretty calm," Boeheim said. "He's getting ready for this and he might miss a few shots early because he's so excited. But I don't think that would bother him."

Memphis point guard Anthony Burks won't play pending an appeal for being 54 cents over a $100 limit on a rental car rule. Also at issue is whether he got special treatment in the rental. Burks could be out for three games, but his appeal won't be heard until next week, according to Memphis coach John Calipari. Meanwhile, freshman forward Almany Theiro has a knee injury and is out a month, Vanderbilt transfer Billy Richmond isn't eligible until Dec. 14, and senior forward Chris Massie is ineligible for the first semester and suspended for the first two games of the second for playing at the Chicago pre-draft camp.

The Tigers will be young, really young, with two freshmen starting in Jeremy Hunt, a regular shooting guard forced to play the point in Burks' absence, and forward Rodney Carney.

"If we play with poise, make easy plays and are unselfish then I'll walk out of here very coolly," Calipari said.

Friday night, Marquette will be without its backup point, Karon Bradley, who is out three to four weeks after knee surgery. Look for more minutes, and less rest, at the point for starter Travis Diener. Villanova might not have senior starting guard Gary Buchanan, who has been battling injuries throughout the preseason and isn't projected to start against Marquette. And if that happens, the Wildcats' freshman will be leaderless on their first night on display.

As for Texas' opponent Georgia? The Bulldogs won't have starting forward Steven Thomas, who is academically ineligible for the first semester, including a three-game suspension, and forward Chris Daniels, who also played in an unsanctioned summer league. The result, North Carolina State transfer Damien Wilkins playing more power forward than point guard.

And what about ESPN.com's preseason No. 1?

Well, even Oklahoma can't escape the injury bug. Projected starting power forward Johnnie Gilbert is still not running well after a freak Labor Day jet ski accident that injured his abdominal muscles. Reserve center Jozsef Szendrei is battling shin splints. These two injuries forced Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson to decide against redshirting freshman center Larry Turner and suiting him up to play against Alabama.

"Turner will play," Sampson said. "Big guys seem to be the most susceptible to injuries. Larry is raw, but he hustles out of mistakes and tries hard. I decided Sunday, why not play him? But I can't play five or six post guys."

Instead, Sampson will play four with Jabahri Brown, freshman Kevin Bookout, a limping Gilbert and Turner ahead of Szendrei. Redshirt freshman Matt Gipson will move to the wing.

Meanwhile, Sampson is sticking with his preseason decision to redshirt senior guard Jason Detrick, who averged 9.2 points in 20.6 minutes on the Final Four Sooners last season. Sampson's reasoning stems from the fact if Detrick played this season, the Sooners would lose four guards after the season -- Hollis Price, Quannas White, Ebi Ere and Detrick. Keeping Detrick means he would join freshman DeAngelo Alexander in the backcourt next season.

"Jason was fine with it," Sampson said. "If I didn't think it would benefit him, then I wouldn't have done it. He needs to grow up on and off the court."

No one will leave New York 0-2 like previous Coaches vs. Cancer events. Still, the new format of a single game for eight teams, instead of two games for four teams, means half the teams could leave with a false perception of how good they are, while the other half a little disappointed they got exposed on a national stage when no one else is playing yet.

But one thing is certain, save Texas, anyone watching won't get a focused snapshot of these teams over the next 48 hours.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.