Regions to Believe

UConn? You can.

Stifle a yawn: Duke is No. 1.

Stanford stands tall in the West.

But connect the dots, and Connecticut might be the nation’s best team.

Richard “Rip” Hamilton, a slashing scorer, is a player-of-the-year candidate to rival Duke center Elton Brand, and they will compete to see who has best put his broken foot behind him.

Stanford was stellar in the Final Four--don’t forget, it took Kentucky an overtime to get past the Cardinal and into the title game.

But Mike Montgomery’s Redwoods are vulnerable to an up-tempo game against standout guards and mobile big men--see Arizona 93, Stanford 75; Connecticut 76, Stanford 56, and Arizona 90, Stanford 58.

Duke is still Duke, with Trajan Langdon, Shane Battier, William Avery, Chris Burgess and a new, improved Brand back from a team that was No. 1 a good chunk of last season and finished 32-4, eliminated by eventual NCAA champion Kentucky in a game in which Duke blew a 17-point lead.

On second thought, how in the world can you pick against Duke?

TOP 10 CONFERENCES

PACIFIC 10--Best conference in the land? It’s getting close. With Stanford and Washington stepping onto the national scene, the depth at the top is better than ever. Who can argue with four teams in the Sweet 16 two years running? The Atlantic Coast is still ahead, top to bottom, but when Arizona and UCLA aren’t the cream of the crop in the Pac-10, you know it’s a pretty good crop.

At Arizona, Jason Terry goes from sixth-man extraordinaire to big scorer with Mike Bibby and Miles Simon gone, and Lute Olson’s coaching is going to show its value this season.

Washington, only a tip from the final eight last season in its loss to Connecticut, has one of the nation’s best-kept secrets in Coach Bob Bender--a former Duke assistant, by the way.

Here in town, UCLA’s pickup game tendencies might cost the young Bruins, with Earl Watson the only steadying force and Baron Davis’ knee uncertain. USC should surprise after a 9-19 season. But that’s a tough group to break into at the top, led by Stanford and Washington. And don’t be a fool and count out Arizona.

ATLANTIC COAST--Enough of measuring the mileage from Durham to Chapel Hill, N.C., already. How far is it from Durham to College Park, Md.?

The Terrapins are supposed to be the challengers this season, after Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter left North Carolina early to become NBA players-in- waiting. Maryland added guard Steve Francis--one of the best junior college players in the nation--to a team that already had center Obinna Ekezie and swingman Laron Profit and beat Kansas and North Carolina.

The Tar Heels have their own version of Charlie Ward in freshman quarterback- guard Ron Curry, who has been a bit busy with football, so forward Jason Capel and forward Kris Lang became the first freshmen to start since Jamison and Carter.

SOUTHEASTERN--Two of the last four NCAA champions were from the Pac-10, and Kentucky won the other two times.

The Wildcat team with a penchant for comebacks, the one that beat UCLA, Duke, Stanford and Utah in succession to stand atop the college basketball world in San Antonio, lost Jeff Sheppard, Nazr Mohammed and Allen Edwards.

But Tubby Smith’s team still looks sturdy with solid, versatile forward Scott Padgett, point guard Wayne Turner, center Jamaal Magloire and forward Heshimu Evans back, and prized recruit Tayshaun Prince from Compton Dominguez High in the fold. Magloire is suspended the first two games .after an off-season scrape.

Tennessee already has lost to a savvy Arizona team, but Volunteer guard Tony Harris, a sophomore, should keep the Volunteers in the picture.

BIG TEN--Is Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves the best point guard in the country, or is it Connecticut’s Khalid El-Amin, or Utah’s Andre Miller? Cleaves is a big scorer and assist man, but on an off-night shooting, he can sink a Spartan team that doesn’t have enough scoring options.

Indiana has an emerging Hoosier hero in Luke Recker.

Two players to watch on lesser teams: Northwestern center Evan Eschmeyer, granted a sixth year of eligibility because of injuries, and Ohio State sophomore Michael Redd, a slashing scorer who was the Big Ten freshman of the year for an 8-22 team last season.

ATLANTIC 10--John Chaney hasn’t had this good a team at Temple since the Owls were No. 1 with Mark Macon. Forward Lamont Barnes is his best player, and Temple shows that defense, matchup zones and taking care of the basketball can still work.

At Rhode Island, Jim Harrick followed up the Rams’ run to the final eight by watching one of his biggest gambles pay off. Lamar Odom, the peripatetic former high school standout who never enrolled at Nevada Las Vegas after his SAT scores were questioned, is eligible at Rhode Island after attending classes as a non-enrolled student. He made a splash in his debut with a 19-point, 14-rebound, nine-assist game against Texas Christian.

CONFERENCE USA--Let’s see, Cincinnati is on probation, Louisville is on probation, and Saint Louis lost Larry Hughes after one brilliant season.

What’s the good news in the league? At least Clyde Drexler returning to Houston as jcoach is a feel-good story.

The truth is, Cincinnati could have fared considerably worse after nearly two years of NCAA scrutiny. The Bearcats aren’t banned from postseason play--they’ll be there--but lose some scholarships and face recruiting limitations.

Louisville is banned from the NCAA tournament, and it’s probably a moot point coming off a 12-20 season. It’s a low ebb for Coach Denny Crum, who has never missed the tournament two years in a row in 27 seasons at the school.

BIG EAST--It’s all about Connecticut, where the Huskies have the right mix of speed and scoring on the outside and bruising defense and rebounding inside.

It’s time Coach Jim Calhoun made a Final Four, and Connecticut was one of the nation’s very best teams when it survived Washington and then lost to North Carolina in the Tar Heels’ backyard regional final. Hamilton and El-Amin, an extraordinarily mature sophomore point guard, are in the backcourt, and Kevin Freeman and 6-11 Jake Voskuhl are underrated up front.

Elsewhere, Mike Jarvis takes over as coach at St. John’s after Fran Fraschilla’s bizarre ouster after the school’s NCAA appearance. One player who doesn’t get enough attention: Miami forward Tim James.

BIG 12--Hard to believe, but Kansas isn’t the favorite this season. Oklahoma State is the pick after the Jayhawks watched Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce, a junior who left early, become lottery picks.

Southern California will get a quick look at both teams when Eddie Sutton’s Oklahoma State plays UCLA in one game and Kansas plays Pepperdine in the other in the Wooden Classic on Dec. 5 at the Arrowhead Pond.

Guard Adrian Peterson is the Cowboys’ scorer, and Tustin High product Doug Gottlieb, who transferred after a credit-card theft incident at Notre Dame, runs the show.

At Kansas, Eric Chenowith, a 7-foot sophomore from Villa Park High, steps in for LaFrentz, but it’s going to take a while for him to imitate LaFrentz’s assurance and finesse.

WESTERN ATHLETIC--Utah’s Miller makes good decisions off the court too. He could have left for the NBA--and been locked out with fellow Final Four alumni Jamison and Carter from North Carolina. Instead, he stayed and played.

Utah won’t be able to reach the heights it did by playing Kentucky for the NCAA championship last spring, not with Michael Doleac and Drew Hansen gone.

Besides Miller, a couple of other WAC players wisely stuck around--Texas Christian’s high-scoring Lee Nailon and New Mexico’s Kenny Thomas, who is ineligible the first semester because of an NCAA penalty.

Nevada Las Vegas, which ran the table at the WAC tournament, has big-man Kaspars Kambala and scorer Kevin Simmons and has added forward Shawn Marion, one of the top junior college players in the nation.

MID-AMERICAN--Miami of Ohio’s Wally Szczerbiak--a 6-8 shooter who has been compared to Tom Gugliotta--may be one of the five best players in the country. He was the leading scorer on a U.S. Goodwill Games team that included Duke’s Brand. Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan made the NCAA field last season, and Ball State deserved to go as well.

THE REST

America East--Mike Brey is trying to make an impression at Delaware with transfers. Half the players the former Duke assistant has brought in started their careers elsewhere.

Big Sky--Northern Arizona put a good scare into Cincinnati in the first round of the NCAA tournament in March. Cal State Northridge could be the up-and-comer, even if high-profile transfer Rico Harris from L.A. City College doesn’t live up to expectations.

Big West--The Southern California contingent still has troubles, and Long Beach State didn’t help matters by losing to Northridge by 15 at home.

Big South--The league had the worst RPI rating of any conference. Look for Radford to be sacrificed to a No. 1-seeded team again in March.

Colonial Athletic--Old Dominion Coach Jeff Capel will go against his son, Jason, one of the nation’s top freshmen, when his team plays North Carolina on Dec. 4.

Ivy League--The Princeton team that was ranked in the top 10 lost standout center Steve Goodrich. Bill Walton’s son, Nate, is among the players who will try to fill in. Penn, led by a player named Michael Jordan, is the favorite.

Metro Atlantic Athletic--Jeff Ruland, the former NBA all-star, is the new coach at Iona, where he played for Jim Valvano in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

Mid-Continent--The Cinderella shoe fit Valparaiso last season, but even with Bryce Drew gone from the Sweet 16 team, the Crusaders already have beaten South Carolina and Seton Hall.

Mid-Eastern Athletic--The home game of the year in this league belongs to Hampton. The Pirates play host to North Carolina on Monday.

Midwestern Collegiate--Underrated league sent three teams to the NCAA tournament last season, and Detroit beat St. John’s in the first round. Larry Farmer is the new coach at Loyola of Chicago after leaving Rhode Island--home of former UCLA coaches--where he was an assistant to Harrick.

Missouri Valley--Illinois State beat Tennessee in the NCAA tournament before losing to Arizona, but with Rico Hill gone, Creighton and small forward Rodney Buford are the class of the conference.

Northeast--Mount Saint Mary’s Coach Jim Phelan has won more games than any other active college coach, starting the season with 785.

Ohio Valley--Murray State lost Coach Mark Gottfried, a former UCLA assistant, to Alabama, but the Racers still have a conference player-of-the-year candidate in forward Isaac Spencer.

Patriot League--Skip Victor, a guard from Cerritos High, makes sure Navy has a Southern California presence, and he ought to make it back to the NCAA tournament.

Southern--The College of Charleston, usually capable of giving someone a scare in March, takes a step up by joining a new league after dominating the Trans-America Athletic Conference.

Southland--Think of it as the Louisiana-Texas league. All 11 teams are from those two states, and Texas San Antonio is the favorite.

Southwestern Athletic--One SWAC team had a record more than a game over .500 last season, and 13-16 Prairie View played its appointed role in a 58-point NCAA loss to Kansas.

Sun Belt--Heads up, everyone, on Florida International, which already has beaten Michigan and Northern Arizona--two 1998 NCAA tournament teams.

Trans-America Athletic--Lefty Driesell needs one victory at Georgia State to join the 700 Club--and his chance to return to the NCAA tournament at 66 may be one of the stories of March.

West Coast--Is this the season Pepperdine finally melds an assortment of talented transfers into a cohesive team? With disruptive force omm’A Givens gone, the Waves should make their run earlier. Other players to watch: Gonzaga’s Matt Santangelo and St. Mary’s Brad Millard, the 7-3, 345-pound center whose season was derailed last year by a broken foot--and a very large one at that.

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Championship Caliber

Most NCAA Titles/Team

UCLA: 11

Kentucky: 7

Indiana: 3

North Carolina: 3

Cincinnati, Duke, Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina St., Oklahoma State, San Francisco: 2

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Most NCAA Titles/Conference

Pacific 10: 16

Big Ten: 9

Southeastern: 8

Atlantic Coast: 7

Missouri Valley: 4