NCAA Mens Basketball Tag

Early season tournaments are all over and the non-conference schedules will be coming to end for college teams across the country.  The road to the Final Four truly begins in January when all schools enter conference play.  We have witnessed some great basketball in the early going but any good coach would tell you that nothing compares to games played in conference.  Your conference opponents are the teams that know you the best and vice versa.  Conference play is also a true measuring stick for those who have national championship aspirations.

The real season begins in January and the students will be returning from their break to their designated sections in arenas throughout college basketball.  For Duke its the "Cameron Crazies", for Michigan State its the "Izzone", and for the University of Illinois its the "Orange Crush".  The lifeline of college basketball is the crazy atmosphere created by student sections like the ones I just mentioned.  The cheers, the slams, and the creative signs give these student sections character in the chaos.  As a fan I love what each student sections brings to the arena and I can't wait for conference play to begin.

Well every year I get sad when the Final Four arrives.  I know that sounds crazy but when the Final Four is decided it means that the madness is coming to a close.  And usually by this time my bracket has been torn up and tossed across the room about 4 times before taking its final resting place inside of a pizza box.

Sure there are still 3 games left to be played to decide the National Championship, but every year the 2 weekends leading up to the Final Four provide more meaningful action than any other 2 week span in sports.

Holy cow folks!  The First Four games last night provided the sports world with the best possible start to the NCAA tournament.  When they first added the play-in game, I found it somewhat meaningless and never cared to watch two teams battle for the right to lose in the NCAA tournament.  Even after the field was expanded to 68  teams in 2011 and thus a total of 4 play-in games.....  Still didn't care too much.  The talent level and potential for good games increased but I still assumed these were teams that were destined for a first round exit anyways.  Plus most brackets don't have you fill out the play-in games so interest level is naturally limited.

Fast forward to the conclusion of last year's tourney and one of those teams (VCU) made it to the Final Four.  And naturally my interest dramatically increased this year when thinking about the success of the Rams last year.  It could have just been a lucky run but when you win 5 games in the NCAA tournament it is clear that skill, preparation, and coaching played a much larger part than luck.  Although I think any coach will tell you that luck is warmly welcomed at any time.

Bracket buster match-ups are already happening throughout college hoops as teams across the country prepare to make their run to the NCAA tournament.  This is the "make or break" point in the season and everyone knows it.  At the moment there are only a few teams in college basketball who have safely cemented their ticket to the "Big Dance".  These teams will be your major conference leaders and basically any team ranked in a top 25 poll.  Being in the top 25 doesn't always guarantee a spot in the tournament but this year it appears that all of the top 25 teams are tourney worthy.

NCAA Tournament Predictions:  If the tournament were to start today.  Excluding conference tournaments of course.