Back in advance of the 2004-05 season, ESPN.com's Answer Man finds the time to answer a few summer e-mails.

How can the Xavier Musketeers not be getting any pre-season hype? I know they lost Romain Sato, Lionel Chalmers, and Anthony Myles, but they have a GREAT recruiting class coming in (Churchill Odia, Josh Duncan, Stanley Burrell, Boubocar Coly), GREAT transfers from Vanderbilt and JUCO (Brian Thorton and Dupree Lucas) and some GREAT players returning (Justin Doellman, Justin Cage, Brandon Cole, Dedrick Finn).
Matthew
Cincinnati

We had Xavier in the back end of our top 50. We probably could have had them a lot higher. I still believe this squad will be in the NCAA Tournament. But losing Sato, Chalmers, Myles and even Matta means there will be a transition period. I have complete faith that Sean Miller is the right coach for this program and may even exceed Matta by one game by some day getting Xavier to the Final Four. Xavier should be right on GW's heels for the top spot in the A-10 West.

Remember the Hoosiers? You released a pre-season Top 50 and IU was nowhere to be found. With or without the nation's most highly rated incoming class, IU is a top 50 team. In my most biased but founded opinion, IU is a top-30 team preseason, hopefully working to prove themselves as a Top-25 entry. What gives?
Eric
Chicago

Eric, why should Indiana be in the top 50 right now? The Hoosiers have to prove they are worthy of being penciled in as a possible NCAA team. They just lost their second straight newcomer to the pros. Indiana has a shot but Bracey Wright, Marshall Strickland, Robert Vaden and D.J. White all must have outstanding seasons for the Hoosiers to make the field. It can happen but we have to wait and see.

Teams like St. Joes, Xavier and even Dayton have proven over the last few years they can clearly compete with the nations best, but unfortunatley play in a weak confrence top to bottom. Are they simply going to have to deal with the fact that (ie: Fordham and UMass) are just going to drag the A-10 down and prevent the top teams from shaking the 'mid major' identity, or is there a different road these teams can take in the future to solidify their strength as a program?
Chris
Dayton, Ohio

Wow. I don't think UMass would like to be in the same company as Fordham. Xavier, Saint Joe's and Dayton were fine a year ago. They weren't brought down by the A-10. If a team has an exceptional season then it can stand on its own. Don't be worried about their identity. They just have to keep winning and making the tournament and they'll continue their national profile. That shouldn't be a problem for those three coaching staffs. The A-10 should dump Fordham, St. Bonaventure, La Salle and Duquesne now that it's adding Saint Louis and Charlotte. If it did that then the league wouldn't have any weak teams to bring down the power rating.

In your sizzling top 50, I noticed that you, for some reason, left the Seton Hall Pirates off this list. Also, a Rutgers fan asked you in your feedback article why you had left the Scarlet Knights off of the list. So I now propose to you, just as the Rutgers fan did, some of Seton Hall's statistics from last year:

Seton Hall 2003-04
Overall record	21-10
Big East	10-6
Non-conference	11-4

Versus Rutgers in 2003-04
Home	W 85-58
Away	W 66-64

(information courtesy of www.shupirates.com)

Returning starters: 3 (although J.R. Morris was better than Marcus Toney-el, coming off the bench. He is now starting.)

Seton Hall not only made the NCAA Tournament, but surprised all the critics (including you: "Sorry Seton Hall, but the selection committee desperately wants a Duke-Arizona second-round matchup." Sound familiar?) by defeating Arizona in the tournament. Returning starter Kelly Whitney had 24 points, 14 rebounds, and made a complete fool of Channing Frye. Whitney may be All-America this year.

Also, four players averaging double figures or more return this year, not to mention the vast improvement of backup center Grant Billmeier.

Andy Katz, what is your rationale for leaving the Pirates off of your top 50?

P.S. 4-star recruit Justin Cerasoli can adaquately fill the gap Andre Barrett left. This is not as big a problem as you may think.

Thank you, Andy.
Patrick
Sussex, N.J.

Once again Patrick, thanks for reading the top 50 and coming up with your own case. You're not the first and probably not the last to roast me over who wasn't in the top 50. Seton Hall was another tough call. I just felt that the Pirates at this juncture were a step below BC, Providence and Villanova, who are all behind Connecticut, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. That doesn't mean the Pirates can't make the field. They just didn't crack my top 50 yet.

Any word on what's happening with Coaches vs. Cancer? Last I read, Duke and Kentucky set an August 1st deadline to determine whether or not they'd play in the event. The deadline has passed and I've heard nothing about it. I understand there's a backup plan as well. There was great potential in this event with Syracuse, Duke and UK, I'd hate to see it fall apart.
Ron Przybycien
Carmel, N.Y.

Ron, it's an absolute joke that this hasn't been resolved yet. The judges on the case are taking their sweet time (what more important matters then exempted tournaments?) I kid of course. But until the rule is reviewed it stands with Syracuse, Cal and now Memphis waiting to see if Duke will stick in the field. If Duke is out then the organizers are saying they'll have a fourth locked up shortly.

What does Aaron Miles have to do to get some recognition? This season he'll likely become only the 5th player with 1000 assists in his career, but his name is nowhere to be found in preseason chatter. As a Jayhawk fan, I love the attention Wayne Simien and Keith Langford have been getting, but I don't understand how their running mate, Miles, can be left out of the conversation.
Chris Dalbom
Richmond, Va.

Aaron doesn't get the respect he deserves. Miles has been to two Final Fours and an Elite Eight the past three seasons. That's hard to beat. He's got a chance to win the title this season. He may go down as one of the all-time winningest players in NCAA Tournament history. Miles is a steady point guard who doesn't get rattled. If the Jayhawks have a chance to win the title it might be because of Miles' leadership.

If you want to look for a possible sleeper from a major conference this year look at the Iowa State Cyclones. Curtis Stinson is the real deal and they have a solid supporting cast. Wayne Morgan has done a very nice job recruiting athletic talent for the next couple of years. What do you think, Andy?
Tim Kayser
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I put Stinson in my preseason Wooden Award top 50. But the Cyclones' coaching staff is a bit worried about their inside game. That's why they don't believe they're a sure bet for a top 50 spot yet. But they do think the guards are talented enough to get them in position to make a run in the Big 12. Morgan proved he could coach a year ago. Now the trick is to duplicate that effort for the hungry Cyclone fans.

Explain this to me: How come that whoever sets up the Preseason NIT pitted GW (No. 37 on your list) against Wake Forest (No. 1) in the first round while American (not on your list) plays Virginia Commonwealth (not on your list)? That doesn't seem fair to me at all. Of course, the last time GW was in the Preseason NIT, they upset Syracuse in the first round. Still, what is the rationale? TV Ratings?
Max
Silver Spring, Md.

Max, you're right. They wanted to put a quality game together and didn't want one team going too far away from home. The GW-Wake matchup is the best first-round game of the tournament. Wake Forest will have to earn its berth to New York. GW is our pick in the A-10.

Is there any conference stronger than the SEC this year? Besides Kentucky, who is loaded, Mississippi State, Alabama and LSU also have talent. I would like to see Oklahoma State try to handle Chuck Hayes or Lawrence Roberts.
Davis
Champaign, Ill.

Davis, I have to differ. The ACC is the top conference in 2004-05. The league could put eight teams in the tournament and as many as three Final Four teams. Wake, UNC, Georgia Tech and Maryland are all legit Final Four contenders. Don't count out Duke making noise, either. N.C. State will be a factor in the race and Florida State and Virginia have the talent to make the NCAAs. At the very minimum, I'm looking at seven teams in the tournament.

First and foremost, what happened with this so called "Ask Andy" inbox this past season? Unless I missed something, I didn't see one mailbag the entire 2003-2004 season! What's up with that?

Now, on to my main question. I am more than slightly puzzled by your "Top 50" list. There are more than a couple spotty choices, but I'm going to touch on my main gripe however, which concerns Boston College at 32.

This is a team that lost ONE player, and that player was Uka Agbai. Agbai was the senior leader and emotional force behind the team, but his statistics are easliy replaceable. Dudley and Smith makeup a monster froncourt. Dudley plays the 3, but in my opinon, it's like having another 4 out there who can defend a bit better on the perimeter. It's quite possibly the best in the Big East, especially if Doornekamp plays like he did during the last part of last season. Then you've got a maturing Louis Hinnant at point, with Sean Marhshall, Jermaine Watson and the extremely underrated Steve Haily mixing it up in the backcourt. Doornekamp, as I said, adds depth in the frouncourt,and by all accounts, I've heard that Al Skiner has landed another steal of a recruiting class, led by Akida McClain and others.

This Boston College team returns just about everybody. They are ready to take the Big East this year. Yet, you have Notre Dame a whopping 16 spots ahead of them, and you have VILLANOVA, a team that has underachieved since the "stellar" class of Fraser, Foye etc came in, ahead of them as well. You said it yourself, Andy. Thomas and Francis are injury risks, they have a questionable transfer, and Quinny may not be able to jump into a starter's role. Villanova is a pathetic choice to even put into the top 50, let alone at 30. I mean they haven't done a darn thing, since that class Andy. Not a darn thing.

You always hate on BC, and yet you grew up in the area. What is the deal, Andy? What is the deal?
Jon Pastuszek
Newton, Mass.

Settle, Jon. First off, read the Weekly Word to see how BC deserves praise for an August pickup. Putting Villanova ahead of BC isn't that far of a reach. The Wildcats should make a serious run. If they don't then they've done a poor job coaching that team. BC has the better star in Smith but Villanova has more depth. BC and Villanova should be in the tournament next season. Putting a little more heat on 'Nova should actually excite not anger you. The Eagles seem to thrive when they're not expected to do as well. You should direct your anger at fellow fans who don't show up enough at BC to make Conte Forum a tough homecourt.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.