Despite conference rivalry games being about a month away and most of Division I’s top squads playing against cupcake competition, the 2004-05 college hoops season is underway. Two annual tournaments, the pre-season NIT and the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, traditionally feature the year’s first marquee match-ups. Both commenced earlier this week and both play their semifinal and final rounds at the mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden in New York.

The powerhouse programs competing in this year’s pre-season NIT include Wake Forest, Providence, Arizona and Michigan. Wake was rated second to Kansas in both this week’s ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and AP poll. Sophomore point guard Chris Paul and junior two-guard Justin Gray combine to form an offensively-charged backcourt that is the major reason expectations are so high for this team.

Two more rounds, Virginia Commonwealth and then either Ivy Leaguers Penn or perennial Big East threat Providence stand between the Demon Deacons and the NIT final game.

The two teams most likely to meet Wake in the NIT final are either Lute Olsen’s Arizona Wildcats or the Wolverines of Michigan, who have already clinched a spot in the semifinals at the Garden. Arizona was 11th in this week’s coaches poll and 10th in the AP. Senior shooting guard Salim Stoudamire is the Wildcat’s offense catalyst and a major threat from downtown, putting in three of five trey attempts in the season opener, after shooting 41.5% last season.

In the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament, the four teams who will slug it out on the hardwood above Penn Station have been determined. Syracuse, sixth in both the coaches and AP polls, takes on Mississippi State, which is 14th in the coaches and 12th in the AP.

‘Cuse features a team with four upperclassmen starting, all of whom were part of the 2003 National Championship team. Saint Mary’s College in California upset Cal in Berkeley to win their tickets to New York City, where they will take on Memphis, a threat for this year’s Conference USA crown.