If March represents the madness that is college basketball, then February is the fever leading up to it.
The season is in full swing and with less than a month until Selection Sunday, you don't have to be Gus Johnson to know it's been an exciting one. If the NCAA Tournament is known for its "one shining moment,'' then the second half of the season has been a supernova of those.
From the five-overtime game between Notre Dame and Louisville, to a half-court buzzer-beater Wisconsin used to send its game against Michigan into overtime, to the inbounds play Illinois used to beat Indiana, it's been one amazing game after another.
"If you are a college basketball fan, you are looking at this as one of the best seasons that you can remember," said Seth Davis, who is the host of the show Courtside with Seth Davis on CBS Sports Network. "It's just been tremendous."
Indiana, Duke, Louisville and Michigan have all held the top spot in the Associated Press top 25 poll at one time or another, with the Hoosiers having spent seven weeks at No. 1. Yet, no team appears front-and-center as the most dominant team in college basketball.
It's nothing new, according to Davis.
"If you look historically and even in recent history, it's actually an exception when you have one team really standing out," Davis said. "This is actually closer to the norm, where you have sort of a wide array of teams having this musical chairs at the top.
"Now, it may seem like this year that the losses are coming fast and furious. It seems like they all are kind of losing at once."
That's an understatement.
For a while there, it appeared nobody wanted to be the top team in the country .. except maybe Miami.
The Hurricanes have been one of the most pleasant surprises this season, with Jim Larranaga's bunch jumping out to a 19-3 record, including an impressive 11-0 mark in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. The stretch includes 20-plus point routs of Duke AND North Carolina.
"I have to say Miami has to be one of the bigger surprises," Davis said. "I knew that they would be good, but I don't think anyone could have predicted that they would be this good."
Davis said this is the perfect season for a team like Miami, which features a roster loaded with senior talent.
"Just the fact that they were able to handle the success of that Duke win and not have any kind of a lull to me was unbelievably impressive," Davis said. "I think that really bodes well for them down the road."
Meanwhile, the Southeastern Conference continues to struggle, with only Florida and Kentucky as the teams to beat. However, the loss of Nerlens Noel, could change part of that equation.
"I can't remember the last time the SEC was this bad," said Davis, who is quick to point out that Kentucky did win the national championship last season.
"It's just cyclical," Davis said. "They won't be down long."
It is good news for Florida fans, who believe this year's Gators team could contend for the school's third national basketball title in the past decade.
If the regular season is any indication of the NCAA Tournament drama, then we are in for quite a treat.
mmurschel@tribune.com
Big East close to new television deal
We should know sometime in the next week or so whether the Big East Conference will have a new television home for its sports. Sources told ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy this week that ESPN will have until Thursday to decide whether the sports network will match a seven-year, $20-23 million per year offer that the league received from NBC Sports Network. ESPN currently holds the television rights to the Big East and must decide whether or not it wants to continue its working relationship. Big East officials turned down a nine-year, $1.17 billion offer in 2011 when the league appeared to be on more stable ground. Since then, the league is battling to stay solvent with 16 teams having left or plan on leaving the Big East in the future. The NBC Sports Network deal would pay teams $2 million per year.
Big Ten has its fill of 'cupcakes'
The Big Ten will discontinue the practice of scheduling teams from the Football Championship Subdivision, according to Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez. The league is considering going from an eight-game conference schedule to a nine-or-10 game league schedule, possibly after the addition of Rutgers and Maryland in 2014. It would help the conference deal with the extra weight a new four-team playoff system will be putting on nonconference games. With a selection committee using strength of schedule as part of its determining factors, teams are maneuvering to improve the quality of their schedules. Dropping FCS opponents would do a lot to improve the Big Ten's stature. Are you listening, SEC?
New rules aimed at player safety
In an effort to increase player safety, the NCAA's Football Rules Committee approved a proposal last week stating any player who targets a defenseless player with an above the shoulders hit will face an ejection. It's a trend that has raised concern not just in the college ranks, but in the NFL as well ? especially in light of the recent wave of concussion concerns. Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, who serves as the chairman of the committee, said that there were 99 "targeting penalties" last season that would qualify as worthy of ejections under the new proposal. Under the proposal, which still needs the approval of the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, a player who is ejected during the first half of a game will only be forced to miss that game. If a player is ejected during the second half or overtime, that player will have to sit out the first half of the team's next game. The Playing Rules Oversight Panel meets again March 6.
On the web
For more college football news, head over to our blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/collegegridiron or you can like us at Facebook.com/collegegridiron 365 and add me on Google +. Follow us on Twitter at @osmattmurschel and @gridiron365.
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