The 2002-03 season is under way, which means ESPN.com's Answer Man has a full mail bag. As always, he's was eager to answer a few questions from ESPN.com users.

I just want to say that Mike Walker, who wrote in asking for props when Xavier beats Kansas, that I have news for him. Mike, you have to get in a position to play the best starting five in the nation before you can beat them. I mean, you put your foot in your mouth when you are talking about Kansas and not taking care of business with Stanford. I like Xavier, but don't go talking about beating my boys from Lawrence until you have a chance to see how dynamic our starting five actually are. Heck, we beat Stanford miserably last year in the NCAA and that is when they had Jacobsen. All right, good luck to your team, Mike, and keep your mouth shut about how good they are until they prove it. Anything you have to add, Katz?
Brian Alexander
Lawrence, Kansas

Xavier who? Mike Walker seemed pretty confident that his Musketeers would just walk into the Garden and take care of Kansas. He forgot that they first had to come through Maples, where us 6th men make it the most difficult place to play west of the Mississippi. Here's a question for you Andy: What's up with preseason polls? This isn't just a phenomenon of basketball, but football as well. It seems writers and coaches put so much weight into their preconceived notions of how good a team should be, that it takes forever to prove yourself if you don't start the season in the top 25. If you watched Stanford play this week, you'd have to agree that they are at least a top 20 team, if not top 15. And we're still waiting on the return of Teyo (Johnson) and Chris (Hernandez). Granted, they were playing in front of a rowdy home crowd with the student section standing on top of the players, but nonetheless, this team plays tough defense, doesn't back down from anyone, and can flat out shoot the rock when it counts. How anyone could immediately count out a Mike Montgomery-coached squad is beyond me. It's just a shame that our streak of 94 straight weeks in the top 25 was ruined because we lost two players to the draft, and not by what was accomplished on the court.
Ameen Saafir
Stanford, Calif.

Can you please pass on to Mr. Walker of Cleveland, that the Xavier Musketeers need to win games in order to face, and thus "smite" Kansas. Pretty please with sugar on top.
Cheers,
Keith Campbell
Lawrence, Kan.

Just wanted to extend my apologies to the Xavier fan who seemed to think Xavier was going to win the NIT. They couldn't even get to New York. Andy, what's Roy Williams record in the NIT? 14-0!! My question is not about the NIT, but the NCAA's; How do you see this bunch of Jayhawks fairing come March?
John
Kansas City, Mo.

Why is it that everyone that writes in to you is whining because you didn't cover their team. Just because you didn't write about their team in a limited space article, doesn't mean you're showing them no respect. You should stop posting those e-mails and tell those people to calm down, grow up, and stop giving you a hard time.
Frank Maher
Pittsfield, Mass.

Frank, I needed your response here to get everyone to settle down. Mr. Walker's comment last week illicited a ton of KU and Stanford wrath. It's interesting to see how everyone reacts. But a lot of the mail we get here is why don't you talk about my team. So, you added some sanity for a minute. Thanks.

Andy,
Why is it that some preseason tournaments get all the coverage and others are not even mentioned. The Top of the World Classic just ended and history was made, for the first time ever, a Division II school won an eight-team, Division I tournament. You wrote a big article on a game 20 years ago as historic when you could have wrote one on history that just happened. Why not cover all the tournaments, even with just the results, these kids deserve coverage too. You want history, it was made in Fairbanks on the 24th of November. It was the single greatest run by a Division II school in tournaments history, none had even made the championship game. But UAF WON the game, beating three D-I schools in four days. That is news and deserves to be reported on.

Jason Ballek
North Pole, Alaska

Jason, you're right. Unfortunately, this tourney wasn't reported on nationally without a top 25 team. But Fairbanks' title run was remarkable and deserves plenty of credit. The Nanooks beat Wisconsin-Green Bay, Nebraska and then Weber State for the title. This is one of those great runs for a Division II, school but it's not out of the ordinary for a host school to win an exempt tournament. Fairbanks did become the first Division II school to win an eight-team tournament with seven other Division I schools. Now it makes sense as to why the Nanooks couldn't get teams to come to Fairbanks this season. This tourney might make it harder next season with schools afraid to go to Alaska to lose to the home team. The good news for the Division I schools is that playing a non-Division I game doesn't help or hurt a school's RPI. It's a loss on the overall record, but on the RPI it's as if it doesn't exist. Fairbanks clearly is getting better players to compete at a mid-major level in Division I. It's also interesting to know that the Nanooks did it with 7 of the 12 players being native Alaskans.

Congrats to Fairbanks on the title, but I'm not sure this can get them any conference affiliation in Division I.

Now that Maryland won a national championship, do you think Illinois is now the best school to never win a NCAA championship title?

Justin
Rockaway, N.J.

Justin,
What an interesting discussion topic. But for what it's worth, I'd have to say "Yes." I'm sure I'll have plenty of folks to argue the question with. But, Illinois now has the honor as far as I'm concerned. But I would redefine it as the school with the richest tradition to never have won a title, rather than the best school.

This may not be weekly note worthy, but why did Xavier have to go on the road for their second-round game, when the other ranked teams stayed at home?
Bob Sylvia
Cincinnati

Bob,
The NIT made the decision. They owed Stanford or at least promised the Cardinal two home games. It's their tourney and they do what they want with it.

Andy,
My question is simple, why so much love for an overrated team like St. Joe's?

While they have Jameer Nelson, that's it (they have no depth). I would have thought you guys would have learned your lesson after last year. They haven't proved much with a victory over BC, they only proved the fact that once in a while a good team plays bad and a bad teams plays better than usual. St. Joe's isn't even the best team in Philly, but still you (and ESPN in general) over look the solid teams. Temple, Penn, Drexel (ok, maybe not Drexel) are all better. La Salle is going to surprise everyone this year, they will be in one of the tournaments, while St. Joe's and Jameer will be at home watching on TV. La Salle, while in the past have suffered disappointing seasons, will have a breakout year, they have the depth and the talent/athletic-ability to go far and will do so. La Salle has improved with the addition of names like Steven Smith (the BEST player in Philly), David "Bones" Bell, and Jermaine Thomas, along with a supporting class of already dominate Mike Cleeves ( Big-5 Rookie of the Year) and Chunkawunkie (Reggie) Okasa (A-10 leading rebounder), superior to many, especially St. Joe's. The key to a successful college team is how well of a bench do you have, La Salle has an excellent one, and St. Joe's doesn't. You may think I'm crazy, you may even be able to prove me wrong the next few games, but by the end of the season, La Salle will reign supreme in the Big 5, and be looking good in the A-10 (which you guys also like to take shots at, but that's a whole other email). Keep this email on your desk, and take a look at the A-10 scores on February 24, and you see La Salle has again knocked off St. Joe's. Please don't take my support for La Salle and the lack of support for St. Joe's as just school spirit, I would enjoy an email back, or I'd like to hear your take on this issue.
Brian
Philadelphia

Brian,
I feel for your professors if you write papers this long. Jeez. We get it. You like La Salle and don't think Saint Joseph's is as good. Well, it's a good thing they play twice. All I can tell you is Saint Joseph's was impressive in its win over BC and Jameer Nelson is as good a true point guard -- a playmaker who can change the game -- as there is in the country. The Hawks are better than anyone thought, but we'll see if they can sustain it with six newcomers.

Why don't the standings for the Big 12 show the North & South divisions? Do they exist for basketball? If not, why not? And how do they then determine the 16 conference game schedule? Is this so the Big 12 only has to match their top teams to play only once and have home-and-homes with the bottom feeders? This looks fishy. Please explain!
Jeremy
Smithfield, R.I.

Because there is no such thing in basketball. There is only one division in the Big 12, unlike football. But the schedule reflects the north-south split with traditional rivalries playing twice for 10 games and the other six teams once.

I know you've written about this before. However, I have a question regarding Michigan's self-imposed penalty for basketball violations and I'd like your opinion. I've read numerous times that the current class of players is being punished for the transgressions of players who've long-since graduated. So my question is: Why not allow Michigan to play the season with no restrictions and then, simply, forfeit all basketball-related revenue? (I'd let someone else decide where the money should go - not to the NCAA!). In this way, the punishment would be felt by the university administration who's ultimately at fault here, and not by the players. What do you think?
Kevin
Avon, Conn.

Kevin,
I have said and written this before: The NCAA punishes teams and players who usually weren't a part of of the program. Is it fair? No. But what else would you do? The players and coaches who are at the school know when they sign on that there is a chance this could occur. Taking future revenue is a good idea, but the NCAA usually wants to hit the program harder and make it suffer in some sense.

In your November 20th Answer Man column, you responded to some angry Kentucky fans who had written in about what they considered "unfair" criticism of Kentucky's fans. You specifically dismissed their (rather valid) complaint, explaining it away because of one UK fan who held up a sign comparing Rick Pitino to John Walker Lindh. I admit, that sign was tasteless. But you skirted the issue. The UK fans had a great point. Where was the criticism of opposing players' fans in situations much worse than a tasteless sign? Is intended physical harm on players of opposing teams (pelting football players on the sidelines with bottles and hard objects) somehow supposed to be LESS tasteful or LESS objectionable than a sign, no matter how classless that sign may be?
Bill Straub
Louisville, Ky.

Bill,
You have a good point. None of it is good. Fan behavior has gotten out of hand in all sports. Hopefully we can be more respectful to each other. I thought that was supposed to have happened in the past 15 months. Apparently we have short memories.

I played with Matt Walsh in grade school and watched him grow into what he is ever since. I know that he is going to be Florida's main man in the years to come, but what do you think? This may seem like a lot of hype for just one game, but do you think he is the real deal?
Brian McHale
University Park, Pa.

Brian,
Did you hang with him on the court? Walsh is as impressive a first-year player as there is in the country. That doesn't mean he's a pro. It means he has matured and grasped the college game quicker than most. He should be a gem to watch over the years in Gainesville. He can score, defend, is active, busts his tail and knows the game so his mistakes are limited.

Just a little info, not a question. I was just reading where someone asked what happened to Marcus Taylor. He's in fact playing in the CBA. He was just in Bismarck and played for the Sioux Falls Sky Force.
Kenny
Bismarck, N.D.

Kenny,
Thanks for the update. Wonder if Mr. Taylor wishes he were back in East Lansing?

I just saw that Arizona is going to redshirt Chris Dunn because of lack of possible minutes and lack of strength. I also see another future problem. Who will get the minutes at point next year. Salim Stoudamire, Will Bynum, Chris Rodgers, or highly-touted recruit Mustafa Shakur? Also at forward, if they are having problems this year, what's going to happen with Ndudi Ebi next year? I realize they are losing Walton and a couple others, but put Rodgers in and their forwards from the last two years and there aren't many spots. As a Duke fan, I get a lot of people telling me that Duke over-recruits. It seems that they spread it out a little better. What is your take on Duke's recruiting and Arizona's situation at guard and forward?
Brandon Fenton
Pontiac, Ill.

Shakur will likely be the starting point. Bynum, Stoudamire and Rodgers would have to share the wing and backup minutes behind Shakur. He should be like Jason Gardner and get the ball from the moment he steps on campus. Ebi will fit into the rotation with Dunn, Latimore, Fox and Frye to give the Wildcats another deep frontcourt. Arizona didn't over-recruit, at least until there is some complaining about minutes. So far, everyone is quiet.

Andy,
I just read your column on Questions for the 2002-03 season. You're usually pretty adept at covering just about everything -- big schools to small -- but how could you leave Jerry Wainwright of Richmond off your list for first-year coaches? He will most likely do better then the majority of those on your list since he has most everyone back from a team that went 22-14 a year ago don't you think?
Corey Goff
Atlanta

Corey,
Good call. I did leave out Wainwright and I shouldn't have. Thanks for keeping me on my toes.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He answers questions on college basketball weekly.