It’s that time of the year again.  The office pools will be coming soon.  Everyone has their favorite teams and their spoiler teams set.  The allegiances will be exposed as some people will pick their alma maters or their childhood favorites, over riding the logic that would normally tell them that they’re crazy to pick that team. 

And of course, everyone that has been ignoring college basketball up to this point will have to start doing their research so they don’t get eliminated in the first round of the tournament.  That’s right, it’s that time again. 

MARCH MADNESS IS HERE!! 

I must admit, with football just finishing up a couple of weeks ago and hockey and that other pro sport fast approaching the playoffs, I too have neglected to follow the NCAA regular season as diligently as I should have.  But there’s still time to figure things out, right?  I mean, the selection committee won’t make their final picks for another two weeks, so there’s still plenty of time to get caught up, right? 

Uh-huh!  Okay, I’ve got my work cut out for me.  Especially after looking at the current rankings.  Let’s see, Kentucky is 28-1 and Syracuse is 29-1, yet Kentucky received 63 out of 65 first place votes in the AP poll and all 31 first place votes in the ESPN/USA Today poll.  Hmm, I wonder what’s up with that? 

And why is Murray State 28-1 but only ranked 14th in the AP and 12^th in the ESPN USA Today polls.  Are they basketball’s versions on football’s Boise State? 

Let’s check this weekend’s scores.  Wow, several top teams lost yesterday, including the numbers 3, 11, 13, 18, 21 and 22.  I guess I can’t count on the rankings too much. 

Well that’s okay because I happen to know that the number 9 teams win three out of four games against the number 8 teams.  Or was that the number 10 teams beating the number 7 teams?  And there’s always at least one number 13 team that wins, but which one will that be this year?  Hmm. 

Okay, I’ve got two weeks to do my research.  I’d better get started now!