(Editor’s note: This article is part of the Bracket Central series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s & women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)
We spend so much of the late summer and early fall dreaming about the possibilities and promises of college basketball nonconference play. Plans are devised to miss an hour of work to catch the second half of an unexpectedly tight game between a ranked power conference team and a frisky mid-major. Thanksgiving meals are timed so as not to miss the few solid college basketball games happening that day.
Somehow, it’s the second week of January. Some teams have already played five conference games, and that means it’s prime overreaction season. Did this one loss in November seal a team’s fate in the Bubble? Could an upset in December have pushed my favorite into a top 16 seed and hosting the first weekend? Should I plan a trip to Cancun to drown the miseries of our season, or am I making calls for someone to watch my dog as I make the 4 1/2-hour drive to watch my alma mater?
Basketball, it rocks.
First and foremost, I’m stoked to be back and starting another year of Bracket Watch (and eventually Bubble Watch). I learned so much last year and have fine-tuned how to best tap into…
