COLLEGE BASKETBALL 1992-93 : Sticking Pins in the Map : Overview: It’s not easy narrowing things down to a Final Four for New Orleans.

This season’s road to the Final Four will end in seductive and steamy New Orleans, home of jazz, gumbo and, of course, voodoo.

After all, how else do you explain Indiana guard Keith Smart’s game-winning shot against Syracuse in the 1987 NCAA championship game at the Superdome? Close your eyes and you can see Hoosier Coach Bob Knight sticking pins in a little Coach Jim Boeheim doll that night.

Anyway, every road needs a proper map. Enclosed then are a season’s worth of directions, beginning with . . .

THE WEST

Ten teams you’ll see in the NCAA tournament: Arizona, UCLA, Nevada Las Vegas, New Mexico State, Brigham Young, California, Utah, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Idaho.

Bubble teams: New Mexico, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara.

Final Four prime candidate: None.

Final Four longshot: Utah.

Utah Coach Rick Majerus warned everyone that last year’s team would be mediocre and he was right. This time, with 1991 Western Athletic Conference player of the year Josh Grant back from a knee injury, Majerus predicts wonderful things for the Utes. We believe. We believe.

Team most likely to fade: UCLA.

Star search auditions take place every afternoon at Bruin practices. If Coach Jim Harrick’s team is to make a smooth transition from the tumultuous and mostly successful M&M; Era of Don MacLean and Tracy Murray, then it needs someone to step forward . . . the quicker the better. Candidates include Ed O’Bannon, Shon Tarver and Tyus Edney.

The five best players: forward J.R. Rider, UNLV; forward Josh Grant, Utah; guard Sam Crawford, New Mexico State; guard Jason Kidd, California; center Scott Haskin, Oregon State.

Rider will make UNLV Coach Rollie Massimino’s first season a memorable one. Grant will be a secret to the rest of the country no more. Crawford gives short a good name. Kidd is Cal’s version of the Fab One. Haskin is actually worth the trip to faraway Corvallis.

Coach of the year: Rick Majerus, Utah.

Not only the game’s best quote maker, but one of its best teachers.

Coach for a year: Lynn Nance, Washington.

Nance didn’t exactly earn a reputation as a people person last season when five players quit the team because of assorted controversies. A 37-48 record in three seasons doesn’t help, either. Nance finally has enough front-court talent to perhaps move up from last year’s eighth place finish in the Pacific-10 Conference, but will it be enough?

Runner-up: Jim Harrick, UCLA.

Harrick bashers are wondering why he can recruit central Europe, but not central L.A. According to basketball scouting guru Bob Gibbons of All-Star Publications, Harrick’s ability to attract big-time recruits is in question.

Best rumor: If Harrick left, Clipper Coach Larry Brown, who coached the Bruins once and turned them down once, would be interested in the job.

Strangest turn of events: A no-brainer--the arrival of the squeaky clean Rollie Massimino at UNLV as Jerry Tarkanian’s replacement. Despite the likelihood of NCAA sanctions against the program, Massimino and his staff were able to recruit a top-10 class for next season.

Two seasons from now we’ll be praising this team: UC Irvine.

Coach Rod Baker’s East Coast recruiting ties and his inroads into the California talent pool will pay off big for the Anteaters. Already Baker has managed to upgrade his roster with quality transfers and freshman forward Shaun Battle. Before long, when he signs a top-25 national recruit--and he will--Baker’s team will give the Big West a program to cherish.

Mascot we’d most like to see tumble from the mezzanine level: Since Tommy Trojan is usually a no-show, we nominate the USC Pep Band, but only if it insists on playing that annoying fight song.

THE MIDWEST-SOUTHWEST

Twenty teams you’ll see in the NCAA tournament: Michigan, Indiana, Kansas, Iowa, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Nebraska, Illinois, Evansville, Missouri, Southern Illinois, Iowa State, Marquette, Miami of Ohio, Wright State, Xavier, Ohio State, Texas, Oklahoma, Houston.

Bubble teams: Minnesota, Texas Tech, Purdue.

Final Four candidates: Michigan, Indiana, Kansas.

Michigan, its Fab Five starters a year older, is everyone’s chic pick this season. If nothing else, at least the Wolverines won’t be allowed to play for a tie. Indiana is suspect in the middle, but Coach Bob Knight will find a way to compensate for the weakness. Kansas, with the addition of junior college transfer Darrin Hancock, has more depth than the Wolverines or the Hoosiers.

Final Four longshot: Oklahoma.

Scoreboards will run for cover as the Sooners, freshly stocked with every ingredient needed for vintage Billy Tubbs point-athons, give Kansas a scare in the Big Eight.

Team most likely to fade: Cincinnati.

Point guard Nick Van Exel is a joy to watch, which is exactly what former starting center Corie Blount will be doing this season after the NCAA ruled he had completed his eligibility. If Coach Bob Huggins can’t find a suitable replacement, then the Bearcats could slip.

The five best players: forward Chris Webber, Michigan; forward Calbert Cheaney, Indiana; guard Jalen Rose, Michigan; guard Rex Walters, Kansas; center Acie Earl, Iowa.

Webber can leap tall Big Ten defenders in a single bound. Cheaney is the most complete player in the Big Ten. Rose has an attitude and a game to back it up. Find a weakness in Walters’ game. We dare you. Iowa’s Earl has the weirdest-looking shot in the country and the sweetest rejection notice you’ll see. No wonder he was the Big Ten defensive player of the year in 1992.

Coach of the year: Roy Williams, Kansas.

Don’t let the Andy Griffith facade fool you. Williams has done his coaching mentor Dean Smith proud.

Coach for a year: Rudy Washington, Drake.

Washington and school officials have been at odds over Drake’s academic policies. The standards have cost Washington some key players, as well as several recruits scared off by Drake’s academic demands. His two-year record: 14-42.

Runner-up: Tony Barone, Texas A&M.;

Patience isn’t a virtue at Texas A&M.; The Aggies haven’t done well in recent years and were 6-22 in Barone’s first season. The talented Barone, who is in for another long year, will eventually salvage this program if--and only if--Aggie alums don’t panic.

Best rumor: The usual: Texas and Texas A&M; bolt to the Pac-10 or Big Eight or Big Ten.

Strangest turn of events: Despite overcoming a brutal schedule, winning 18 games, advancing to the final of the NIT and having John MacLeod as its coach, Notre Dame can’t seem to generate much excitement in South Bend. A preseason campus function attracted embarrassingly few fans. Maybe it’s because the Fighting Irish once again must play the toughest schedule in the country--14 1992 NCAA tournament teams--and do so without four starters of a season ago.

Two seasons from now we’ll be praising this team: DePaul.

Coach Joey Meyer’s contract status was a favorite off-season topic of Chicago radio sports-talk shows. Should DePaul offer him a new deal or look elsewhere? Are you kidding? Despite DePaul’s annual NCAA tournament fades, Meyer is worth the trouble and the new contract. Worry not, Blue Demon followers. Meyer will ease DePaul back into the top 20 soon enough.

Mascot we’d most like to see tumble from the mezzanine level: Is Texas’ Bevo allowed in arenas?

THE SOUTH

Twenty-two teams you’ll see in the NCAA tournament: Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida State, Memphis State, Louisville, Tulane, Georgia Tech, North Carolina Charlotte, Alabama, Wake Forest, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, Mississippi State, Southwestern Louisiana, James Madison, Murray State, Tennessee Chattanooga, Radford, Southern, Northeast Louisiana.

Bubble teams: South Carolina State, New Orleans.

Final Four candidates: Duke, Kentucky, Florida State, Memphis State.

A Duke three-peat is possible if Cherokee Parks, who now wears goggles, can see his way to fill Christian Laettner’s sneakers. If Kentucky had any more weapons--All-American Jamal Mashburn, a top-five recruiting class (including phenom Rodrick Rhodes), a love affair with the three-point shot, a stifling pressure defense--Wildcat Coach Rick Pitino would need a permit. Florida State is great now. Just wait until they get point guard Charlie Ward back from the football team. Memphis State, our dark horse pick last year, is no longer anybody’s secret.

Final Four longshot: Auburn.

Four starters and a great recruiting class will ease the pain of Auburn’s football troubles.

Team most likely to fade: Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons fade? With all-planet forward Rodney Rogers on the floor? It could happen if guard Randolph Childress, who sat out the 1991-92 season because of a knee injury, doesn’t return at full strength. Coach Dave Odom also needs a center to take some of the rebounding pressure off Rogers. And it would help if Georgetown transfer Charlie Harrison, who can’t play until Dec. 15 against Rhode Island, provides immediate backcourt point production.

The five best players: forward Jamal Mashburn, Kentucky; forward Grant Hill, Duke; forward Rodney Rogers, Wake Forest; guard Bobby Hurley, Duke; guard Allan Houston, Tennessee.

All five were chosen for USA Basketball’s Select Team, which turned out to probably be the best opponent the U.S. Olympic squad faced last summer. Mashburn can do everything, and that includes shooting three-pointers galore. Hill can take your breath away. Rogers can put the Demon Deacons on his muscular shoulders and not feel a thing. Word is that Hurley outplayed NBA All-Star John Stockton during scrimmages. Houston is a star, pure and simple.

Coach of the year: Pat Kennedy, Florida State.

In their first season in the difficult Atlantic Coast Conference, the Seminoles won six of eight league road games and finished second in the standings. It was no fluke. Kennedy is a master recruiter and smart enough to recognize and adapt his style to the strength of this team: the guards.

Coach for a year: Cliff Ellis, Clemson.

In center Sharone Wright, he trusts. Unless Clemson, which finished in the ACC cellar last year, can crawl up the league standings, Ellis might feel the heat from dissatisfied Tiger fans, which can be considerable.

Runner-up: Wade Houston, Tennessee.

Don DeVoe last led the Volunteers to an NCAA tournament appearance in 1989--and they fired him. Houston, who replaced DeVoe, begins his fourth season without an NCAA invitation and Tennessee fans are getting restless. The Volunteers also play in the Southeastern Conference’s Eastern Division, the tougher of the league’s two, and face nonconference opponents Seton Hall, Memphis State, Syracuse and Cincinnati, among others. As an added disadvantage, Houston dismissed smooth-shooting senior forward Carlos Graves and senior backup guard Steve Rivers from the team because of the dreaded “team rules” violations.

Best rumor: The nation’s top center prospect, Rasheed Wallace of Philadelphia, will sign with North Carolina, rather than Temple, Villanova or Georgetown.

Strangest turn of events: A season ago, Wimp Sanderson’s plaid ensemble was nearly a cottage industry at Alabama. Now, after a nasty lawsuit involving allegations of striking a longtime personal secretary, Sanderson is out and former Crimson Tide assistant David Hobbs is in. Don’t bother looking for the signature plaid logo on Alabama’s home court. It’s gone, too.

Two years from now we’ll be praising this team: North Carolina.

A possible dynasty in the making if Wallace ends up in Chapel Hill. Even if he doesn’t, Coach Dean Smith has assembled enough talent to win the NCAA championship next season.

Mascot we’d most like to see tumble from the mezzanine level: Kentucky’s Wildcat. Oh, so smug. Of course, who can blame it?

THE EAST

Twelve teams you’ll see in the NCAA tournament: Seton Hall, Georgetown, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Temple, George Washington, Boston College, Manhattan, Princeton, Wagner, Delaware, Holy Cross.

Bubble teams: Pennsylvania, Duquesne.

Final Four candidate: Seton Hall.

Coach P.J. Carlesimo has Terry Dehere, Big East Conference preseason player of the year, and fellow conference first-teamer Jerry Walker, the heart and soul of the Pirates. Nor does Carlesimo bother to downplay his team’s NCAA chances. He knows the Pirates are good and says so. He’s right, too.

Final Four longshot: George Washington.

We cannot tell a lie: The Colonials will do what Massachusetts--another Atlantic 10 Conference team--did last year, that is, scare opponents silly.

Team most likely to fade: Connecticut.

Coach Jim Calhoun’s Huskies have a strong front court in Donyell Marshall, Scott Burrell and Toraino Walker, but a questionable backcourt. Burrell will probably see time at off-guard, but that won’t solve the most pressing need: a replacement for point guard Chris Smith, the team’s scoring and assists leader last season.

The five best players: forward Donyell Marshall, Connecticut; forward-center Harper Williams, Massachusetts; guard Terry Dehere, Seton Hall; guard Lawrence Moten, Syracuse; center Vin Baker, Hartford.

Burrell is getting all the ink, but Marshall will be the center of attention by season’s end. Williams is only 6-7, but he plays much, much bigger. Dehere is a point producer extraordinaire. Moten is the hardest-working player in the business. Now if he could just do something about those socks of his. Baker, who averaged 27.6 points last season, is the best player you’ll never see.

Coach of the year: Mike Jarvis, George Washington.

Expect some big-time school to come after Jarvis any season now.

Coach for a year: Paul Evans, Pittsburgh.

The Panthers won 18 games last season and hardly anyone noticed, including the NCAA Basketball Committee. For the second time in three years, Pitt didn’t earn an NCAA bid. Equally disturbing to Pitt followers is a four-year slide during which the Panthers did no better than third place in the Big East.

Best rumor: John Calipari, who was a hot commodity after Massachusetts’ success in the NCAA tournament, will take Evans’ place at Pitt next season.

Strangest turn of events: Big East members, thanks to considerable lobbying by conference Commissioner Mike Tranghese, are expected to allow Syracuse to play in the postseason conference tournament. The Orangemen were recently put on probation and ruled ineligible for the NCAA tournament. But Tranghese, citing the conference’s need to treat each team as family, wants Syracuse in the league’s tournament, anyway.

But what happens if, say, Providence needed one more victory to receive an NCAA bid and Syracuse, which isn’t going anywhere, beat the Friars in the Big East tournament? The league not only loses an NCAA team and the money that goes with it, but it loses face, too.

Two seasons from now we’ll be praising this team: George Washington.

Jarvis is already known among his peers as a coach to watch. It was Jarvis, then at Rindge & Latin High School in Cambridge, Mass., who began refining Patrick Ewing’s skills. Just think what he’ll do in two years with the equally imposing Yinka Dare, a 7-1, 265-pound center from Nigeria.

Mascot we’d like to see tumble from the mezzanine level: Syracuse’s Orangeman. Seriously, what exactly is an Orangeman and what service does it provide our world?

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team ‘91-92 Record 1. Kansas 27-5 2. Florida State 22-10 3. Kentucky 29-7 4. Duke 34-2 5. Indiana 27-7 6. Memphis State 23-11 7. Michigan 25-9 8. Seton Hall 23-9 9. Oklahoma 21-9 10. North Carolina 23-10

Waiting list: Georgetown, George Washington, Utah, Louisville, Iowa.

Predicted Final Four: Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma.

Predicted winner: Kansas.