Nation's best prep for Arch Madness

All signs point to St. Louis. The road is paved and awaiting four teams who can navigate their way through the rocky terrain of college basketball. \nThe Final Four road map eludes even the finest coaches in the land, so what does it take to reach the grandest stage the sport has to offer? \nRarely do preseason favorites go out and win the national title, but UConn last year, on the shoulders of Emeka Okafor, better his shoulders than his back, and Ben Gordon led the Huskies to their second national title. The Huskies edged Duke in the national semifinal in a matchup of teams expected to be in the final quartet. However, in the second national semifinal, Oklahoma State met Georgia Tech. These were two teams many knew would be good last year, but none predicted to finish higher than third or fourth in their respective conferences at the season's outset.\nSo who is this year's Duke and UConn and who might have the honorable distinction of surprising the nation and emerging under the Arch?\nThe preseason polls tell us Kansas and Wake Forest will book their tickets for Busch country. The Deacons are led by sophomore sensation Chris Paul at point guard and the Jayhawks received the good word Wayne Simien would return for his senior season. Skip Prosser is in a position he's never been in before at Wake. The former Xavier head man has a team loaded with talent that will be battle tested in the rough ACC, but the team on the eastern seaboard that whets my appetite is Maryland. While Wake Forest boasts Paul at the point, Maryland's John Gilchrest is Paul's equal and will use his superior supporting cast in leading the Terps back to the Final Four. When push comes to shove and plays need to be drawn up or defenses need to be aligned, I'll take Gary Williams and his out-of-control sweat glands over Prosser. Kansas will struggle if Simien's injury woes return as Aaron Miles can't shoot well enough to ease the big man's pain.\nCollege basketball embodies the best of collegiate athletics. Sixty-five teams are offered the chance at a national championship, whereas a mere two teams vie for the national crown in football. Emotions run so deep in March. A coach is either racing onto the court with his arms in the air, a smile ear-to-ear waving at his faithful followers, or he's subdued, sitting at the end of the bench with his face in his hands, wondering when this chance will beckon again. \nWho will the basketball gods smile upon this year? Which coach will etch his name among the greats?\nRealistically there are three or four teams in all the major conferences who can get hot enough where they can make a deep tourney run. It's too tough to handicap. The so-called experts can't even pick the Final Four when they are given the advantage of a bracket layout following Selection Sunday, so how can a college columnist convince y'all that I preach the college hoops gospel? Will you believe me if I tell you Arizona may finally play defense well enough to make March noise? Can I convince you Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech make it back to the Final Four now that a bullseye has been locked on them? \nSo if I've rambled on this long I might as well tell you which teams to place bets on.\nWith no further ado, Cakes' Final Four prognosis a mere five months early: Maryland, Syracuse, Kentucky and North Carolina. Really going out on a limb there, right? It's November, give me a break. But if you want a sleeper, here's one for you: Memphis and John Calipari. But don't call Vegas just yet.