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OPENING THE 'BAG

While we're at it, MVP reader Strohsahl wonders if any other teams in the past 25 years have had at least seven guys who've scored 20 points in a game. Send in your nominees and we'll check it out.

Much like Syracuse two years ago, a number of younger teams are developing as the season progresses. I fear your Magic Eight may be ruined by a continually improving team such as Kentucky. The 'Cats have four freshmen, three sophomores and one transfer playing significant minutes. Once they all adopt Tubby Smith's philosophy, UK stands a good chance of hanging an eighth national-championship banner. It's all mashed potatoes and sawmill gravy after that, G-Dubs. Do you see any other young teams really hitting their stride right now?
-- DJ Pfaadt, Atlanta

	MAILBAG Grant Wahl will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Sawmill gravy? Whatever that is, I like the sound of it. Count me impressed by Kentucky's so-far undefeated run through the SEC, including Tuesday's not-in-our-house putdown of Florida. Patrick Sparks has joined Chuck Hayes as the soul of this Wildcats team, which does just about everything a basketball purist loves: pass, D-up and play as a team. Thanks to Smith's ball-line defensive principles, UK doesn't need to have a dominant post player, which is a good thing -- because it doesn't. At the same time, I think the Wildcats are still lacking a big-dog gamebreaker (and widespread tournament experience) that would be key to a national-title run this season.

It's funny. Just a few weeks ago in SI I included Kentucky and Texas in my group of young teams that could make a title run. The poor Longhorns have gone off the rails since then (losing P.J. Tucker and LaMarcus Aldridge can do that), but there's one other young team to watch in the national-title hunt: UConn. All season long the Huskies have performed below expectations, but this week's win at Syracuse showed that Charlie Villanueva may be ready to shoulder the burden that Jim Calhoun wants to put on him. Keep an eye on what's going on in Storrs.

As for young teams that could make a surprise run to the Sweet 16 (if they make the tournament), look out for these rising squads: Texas Tech, Minnesota, Georgetown and Miami (Fla.)

By the way, the two non-Magic Eight teams that now scare us most are Wake Forest and Louisville.

Last night, I was watching Wake Forest play Duke, and it dawned on me: I really don't understand how basketball offenses work. Defense is clear enough -- I can tell whether a team is playing man-to-man or a zone. But I can't tell on offense whether a team is running a set play, using a basic formation from which they look for scoring opportunities, or just plain improvising. Can you shed any light on the subject? When, say, Duke brings the ball up the floor and sets up its offense (as opposed to running the break), what's going on in the players' minds? How much of what happens is orchestrated by Coach K, and how much is purely in the players' control?
-- Malcolm, New York City

Good question, Malcolm. As you might expect, some offenses are more structured than others. When Mike Montgomery was at Stanford, he'd have his team run a set play on just about every half-court possession. At Duke, the team runs a lot of what it calls "quick-hitters," or plays that have several options at the discretion of the players. When I spoke to Purdue's Gene Keady recently about the differences between his motion offense and Bruce Weber's at Illinois, Keady said Weber's scheme allows for a lot more one-on-one and freelancing within the system. Generally, fans overestimate how much structure an offense has. That's why you so often hear the phrase, "Players make plays."

Example: When I sat behind the bench at an Illinois game recently, about the only thing Weber would yell to his players was, "Move, Deron, move!" Or: "Run, Luther, run!" Granted, they were moving within Weber's "pure motion" system, but it still sounded a lot like Forrest Gump.

How is Illinois so low in the RPI?
-- Matt, Alton, Ill.

You may have noticed that the nation's undisputed No. 1 team (Illinois) is No. 5 in the latest RPI, behind (in order) Kansas, Wake Forest, Boston College and Oklahoma State. My advice: Trust your own eyes more than the computer. The RPI can be a semi-useful tool in mid-March when you're determining which teams should make the NCAA tournament field. But too many people have shown that the RPI is wracked with inconsistencies when it comes to predicting results or even judging accomplishments. If you're seeking an explanation for the Illini's RPI, look no further than its games against strength-of-schedule anchors like Delaware State, Florida A&M, Longwood and Northwestern State.

Now for this week's installment of "Yet another reason why SI should be like The Atlantic Monthly and allow writers to respond on the Letters Page." Let's flip to last week's mag:

Grant Wahl writes of college basketball, "TV ratings are up and so is the quality of play." Wahl in part used as evidence Kansas' 65-59 win over Kentucky, providing plenty of details about Ashley Judd but failing to mention that the game was a horror show of terrible shot selection and turnovers. Kansas was 21-of-53 from the field (39.6 percent), including 4-of-16 from 3-point range, and had 21 turnovers. Kentucky shot 21-of-68 (30.9 percent), including 6-of-26 from beyond the arc, and had 13 turnovers. I think Wahl has officially joined the Packer-Vitale brigade of those who blindly praise college basketball because that's where their bread is buttered. Many of us who still love the college game can tell the obvious truth: It isn't as good as it once was.
-- Chris Ekstrand, Rossford, Ohio

GRANT WAHL RESPONDS: Well, Chris, I can agree with you on one thing: Kansas-Kentucky wasn't a well-played game. Other than that, you're at sea on an undertow of bad logic. Ask yourself: If I had written that essay a week earlier after the well-played Kansas-Georgia Tech game, would that have changed the trend of college basketball's renaissance one bit? Not at all. That's because you shouldn't base trends on what happens in one game. As it was, UK-KU was a flawed game but a perfect example of the ramped-up excitement that has surrounded a spate of delicious intersectional matchups this season. That's a bona fide trend, as are the improved TV ratings across the board for college hoops and the highest number of returning and upperclass starters on top-20 teams in the past seven years.

I've been known as a cynic in the past, but anyone who has watched a few dozen college games this season knows that the level of play (while by no means skyrocketing) is up. I agree with many coaches that it's a direct result of having more experienced talent back at the college level this season. Let's be clear about what I argued in my essay: that college basketball is enjoying a resurgence this season. We never said it's "as good as it ever was" pre-NBA exodus, only that this season has shaped up as the best in several years for a number of reasons. As for the idea of "blindly" praising the sport, where were you when we devoted our entire SI college hoops preview to the decline in fundamentals two years ago?

What's up with Andrew Bogut's teen-'stache? I've long been an admirer of the teen-'stache (a phenomenon where teenagers unexpectedly grow a semi-'stache in that period before they start shaving their upper lip) since I accidentally grew one in the seventh grade. Bogut is a giant among boys, so why can't he grow some real facial hair? I blame it on being Australian.
-- Nater, Austin, Texas

Strong question. My top teen-'stache experience came when my seventh-grade baseball team took on the KCK champion -- with a lineup full of teen-'staches -- in a supposedly-under 14 playoff game. (I think they had the same handlers as Danny Almonte.) Anyway, I think we all should encourage Bogut to grow more of a Harry Reems-ish walrus-'stache (especially now that the Inside Deep Throat commemorative movie is coming out soon).

MORE READER-SUPPLIED TRIVIA

Got a couple more reader submissions on college teams (like this year's Washington squad) that have had three players from the same high school. Joe Eisenback of Louisville, Ky., writes that the 1976-77 Louisville team had a hometown trio from Male High: Wesley Cox, Bobby Turner and Darrell Griffith. Brent Houk of Richmond, Va., notes that back in the day Virginia's Jeff Lamp, Lee Raker and Terry Gates all came from Ballard High in ... Louisville.

The aforementioned reader D.J. Pfaadt (is that your stage name?) responds to last week's query seeking the school that has forwarded the most coaches (assistant and head) to head-coaching jobs in today's college game:

I think Illinois may have Kentucky beaten as far as head coaches in the last 10 years go, but the pipeline at UK has been strong in the last two decades. Here's the 11 that I could come up with:

Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Tubby Smith (Kentucky), Rick Pitino (Louisville), Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State), Shawn Finney (Tulane), Travis Ford (Eastern Kentucky), Billy Donovan (Florida), Herb Sendek (N.C. State), John Pelphrey (South Alabama), Mike Sutton (Tennessee Tech) and Ralph Willard (Holy Cross).

Meanwhile, reader Joshua Weill of New York City wonders whether any school can match Kentucky in having four Final Four head coaches among its offspring: Smith, Pitino, Sutton and Donovan.

Likewise, Nathan Carnal of Alma, Ark., submits the 11-member recent family tree of Tulsa:

Bill Self (Kansas), Tubby Smith (Kentucky), Norm Roberts (St. John's), Billy Gillispie (Texas A&M), Mike Anderson (UAB), Buzz Peterson (Tennessee), Ron Jirsa (Marshall), Rob Spivery (Alabama State), Shawn Finney (Tulane), Mike Sutton (Tennessee Tech) and Jim Platt (Charleston Southern).

Notice some similarities here?

SEVEN RANDOM THINGS

• Many thanks to Brent Musburger for trying to spread the 'Bag's Flyin' Illini-style nickname for this year's Illinois team. If Stylin' Illini sticks, we'll be paying the Muss-man hosannas indefinitely.

• Time to be worried if you're an Alabama fan. The Tide violated the cardinal rule if it wants to win a national title by suffering a 30-plus-point loss to Florida last week.

• Congratulations to Notre Dame for handing Boston College its first loss. Huge win for the Irish. But you hate to see a charge called at a pivotal point in the game, especially a charge under the freaking basket (a pet peeve which we've discussed ad nauseam). Jared Dudley deserved better than drawing the late call when Colin Falls took his "charge" under the hoop.

• Dee Brown's three consecutive steals against Michigan on Tuesday may have been the single most impressive short-term feat by a player that I've seen this season. Even better, they sparked the Illini's comeback win.

• With Oklahoma State going small and JamesOn Curry in the starting lineup, the Cowboys are busy re-entering the national-title equation.

• Let me save you the trouble: Unless something drastic happens, Arizona State's Ike Diogu is your national player of the year.

• If I'm a No. 1 seed in March, the last team I want to face in the second round is Pacific.

PICKS FROM THE 'BAG

In theaters: Born Into Brothels. This scary-good documentary by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman takes you inside the red-light district of Calcutta, where photojournalist Briski earns the trust of the prostitutes and begins teaching a photography class to their children. You'll be amazed by the talent (and humor) shown by the kids, whom Briski tries to enroll in nearby boarding schools. It's easy to see why the film was recently nominated for an Academy Award in the best feature documentary category.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

This week's comes from Ted Singer of New York City:

UConn's Charlie Villanueva and Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett.

See you next week.