Aaron Gray withdrew from last year's NBA Draft to return for his senior season at Pitt. His Panthers are 20-3 and ranked No. 7. AP
	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:

Your buddy Seth Davis has said that he looks at UNC '07 and sees Kentucky '96. If so, I wonder if you see any team this year as the Syracuse '96 that Kentucky beat for the title? That Syracuse team was virtually without stars (its best player was John Wallace), but was coached by one of the best, simply played well together as a team and, of course, got hot at the right time.
-- John D., Takoma Park, Md.

First off, I'm not quite ready to anoint the Tar Heels the second coming of Rick Pitino's '96 crew, which was one of the best teams of its decade. But I'll play along. There are a few teams that have a somewhat similar profile to that '96 Syracuse squad, some of which are ranked higher than others:

Pittsburgh: I have no idea if Aaron Gray will be a top-flight NBA player, but he's a load at the college level and could pull a Wallace in March for a team that plays together awfully well.

Texas A&M: The Aggies wouldn't surprise people nearly as much as the '96 Orangemen if they made it to Atlanta, but once again you have a player (Acie Law IV) who can win games Wallace-style, combined with a team defense that is downright scary.

Indiana: I know the Hoosiers have lost at Illinois and Iowa recently, but I still think they're capable of putting together a real run on neutral courts.

Southern Illinois: Yet another defensive lockbox that could smother foes when it counts.

Georgetown: See below.

Have people forgotten about Georgetown? Its 16 victories come with a margin of 19.7 points per win. It is dominating, especially in recent weeks, and four of its five losses from early in the year are to Oregon, Duke, Pittsburgh and Villanova. Maybe the No. 8 ranking at the beginning of the season was a bit too much, but don't you think they are a little underrated right now?
-- Michael Green, Bethesda, Md.

Probably. Keep in mind, Georgetown's five straight wins have come against the dregs of the Big East, and we'll learn a lot more from upcoming games against Louisville, Marquette, West Virginia and Villanova. The perimeter play has been better of late for the Hoyas, though, and that's a good sign. Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp have a lot of pressure on them, and their continued performance will be important in support of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert (who got called out by Patrick Ewing on national TV last week and needs to be a force the rest of the way). I still think this team is capable of big things.

Is it only a matter of time or will Kansas State ever defeat Kansas at Bramlage Coliseum? (I won't even mention Clemson at UNC: 0-52!!) Are there any other streaks such as these going on right now?
-- D Evans, Atlanta

It certainly looks like this might be the year that the streaking K-State Wildcats take down their arch rival at home. Bob Huggins' team is on a nice run of late and even threatening to become a real factor down the stretch in the Big 12 race, though they've got a tough test in Lawrence on Wednesday night. Losing Bill Walker for the season apparently wasn't much of a problem after all. Clemson's 0-fer-Chapel Hill futility is legendary, and it won't change this year since they only meet in South Carolina. Any readers have any other great streaks they could contribute?

Has anyone ever told you that you look exactly like Matt Hasselbeck?
-- Joey Bianca, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Woody Harrelson, yes. Hasselbeck, no. Until now.

Is it possible, nay, probable, that the best backcourt in the ACC resides not in Chapel Hill or Durham but in (gasp) Charlottesville?!?
-- Ben Allaire, Austin, Texas

Easy answer: yes. Virginia's Sean Singletary (19.0 ppg) and J.R. Reynolds (18.5) are the truth. The Cavaliers got a nice win at Maryland on Tuesday to show they mean business in the ACC.

In response to your question, "Can any other readers name a staff of three concurrent assistant coaches who went on to big things as head coaches?" You call yourself a Princeton grad, and Pete Carril's last coaching staff in 1995-96 didn't occur to you: Bill Carmody, Joe Scott and John Thompson III???
-- Chris Palermo, Bronxville, N.Y.

Guilty as charged, Chris. It's even more embarrassing when you consider I was covering Princeton for the student paper in 1995-96, too. But it's more than worth a little egg on the 'Bag's face when readers come up with so many solid suggestions for coaching staffs that have had a memorable trio of assistants at the same time. Here's how I'd rank what we now have in-house, with the former assistants' most recent positions in parentheses, followed by the reader(s) who suggested them:

• Kentucky 1989-90: head coach Rick Pitino, assistants Tubby Smith (Kentucky), Herb Sendek (Arizona State), Ralph Willard (Holy Cross), graduate assistant Billy Donovan (Florida).

• North Carolina early-1980s: head coach Dean Smith, assistants Roy Williams (UNC), Bill Guthridge (ex-UNC), Eddie Fogler (ex-South Carolina).

• Mississippi State early-1980s: head coach Bob Boyd, assistants Richard Williams (ex-Mississippi State), John Brady (LSU) and Larry Eustachy (Southern Mississippi).
-- Submitted by Bill, Atlanta

• Michigan State mid-1990s: head coach Tom Izzo, assistants Tom Crean (Marquette), Stan Heath (Arkansas), and Brian Gregory (Dayton).
-- Submitted by Kyle Jen, Lansing, Mich., and Jamie Munden, Garner, N.C..

• Davidson 1978-79: head coach Eddie Biedenbach, assistants Rick Barnes (Texas), Jeff Bzdelik (Air Force) and Bob McKillop (Davidson).
-- Submitted by Bro Krift, Odessa, Texas

• UCLA 1994-95: head coach Jim Harrick, assistants Lorenzo Romar (Washington), Mark Gottfried (Alabama), Steve Lavin (ex-UCLA).

• Duke 1968-69: head coach Vic Bubas, assistants Chuck Daly (Penn/Detroit Pistons) and Hubie Brown (various NBA teams).
-- Submitted by Todd Reitzel, Beltsville, Md., and John Decker, McLean, Va.

• Providence 1986-87: head coach Rick Pitino, assistants Herb Sendek (Arizona State), Stu Jackson (Vancouver Grizzlies/Wisconsin), Gordon Chiesa (Seattle Sonics assistant/ex-Providence) and grad assistant Jeff Van Gundy (Houston Rockets).
-- Submitted by John Shannon, Boston and R. Ferri, Seattle

• Kansas early-1990s: head coach Roy Williams, assistants Matt Doherty (SMU), Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt), Jerry Green (ex-Tennessee), Steve Robinson (ex-Florida State), Mark Turgeon (Wichita State). Doherty replaced Turgeon in 1992.
-- Submitted by Gen Gillespie, Brooklyn, N.Y.

• Princeton 1995-96: head coach Pete Carril, assistants Bill Carmody (Northwestern), John Thompson III (Georgetown) and Joe Scott (Princeton).
-- Submitted by Chris Palermo, Bronxville, N.Y., and Jason Aughenbaugh, Austin, Texas

• UC-Santa Barbara 1991-92: head coach Jerry Pimm, assistants Ben Howland (UCLA), Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh) and Ray Lopes (ex-Fresno State). -- Submitted by Zane Bloom, Harmonsburg, Pa.

• UConn mid-1990s: head coach Jim Calhoun, assistants Dave Leitao (Virginia), Karl Hobbs (George Washington) and Howie Dickenman (Central Connecticut).
-- Submitted by Chris Boghosian, Fair Lawn, N.J.

• Illinois early-2000s: head coach Bill Self, assistants Billy Gillispie (Texas A&M), Norm Roberts (St. John's) and Rob Judson (Northern Illinois).
-- Submitted by Erik Alexander, Charlottesville, Va.

• Stanford 1998-99: head coach Mike Montgomery, assistants Trent Johnson (Stanford), Blaine Taylor (Old Dominion) and Eric Reveno (Portland).
-- Submitted by Jim Lippert, Fremont, Calif.

• Duke late-1990s: head coach Mike Krzyzewski, assistants Tommy Amaker (Michigan), Quin Snyder (ex-Missouri), Tim O'Toole (ex-Fairfield).