If You Don't Love College Hoops You're Wrong

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    March is just around the corner, which means the best time of year is too. March Madness is one of, if not the best athletic competition's in the world. Put it up against the World Cup, The Super Bowl, The Stanley Cup Playoffs, nothing compares to the uniqueness that is college hoops.

    This year in particular has felt like a renaissance on that hardwood. Blue blood programs like Kansas, Duke, UCLA, Arizona, and Kentucky are back in the thick of things, and hell, even UConn has some life back in their program, and all capable of making a deep postseason run. Then you add in non-traditional, but still powerhouse programs like Texas Tech, Purdue, and Illinois making a lot of people wonder if they can upset the natural order of power in the final four. Oh, and of course we have Gonzaga just sitting up there in Spokane waiting for March to see if they can finally break through.

    While it's great having these teams playing at a top-tier level, it's even better this year than most because games feel like they mean more, and we have a resurgence of good, old-fashioned hate brewing amongst fans. Take Texas Tech for example, their former head coach leaves for an in-state rival, intraconference rival and drops the Red Raiders like they were just a weight holding him down. Normally, when I think of TTU, I think football, the Michael Crabtree catch against Texas, and the Masked Raider mascot, easily one of the most underrated mascots out there.

    So a week ago, Chris Beard brings Texas to Lubbock for his first return since turning his back on them in an ultimate heel-turn style. Fans were more than happy to welcome him back with a chorus of boos as he walked back onto his old home court.

    Texas Tech went on to destroy the Longhorns, but despite a lopsided score, the atmosphere and absolute vitriol shown by Texas Tech fans towards Beard and his program is just what this sport needed. I've always been a big proponent that student sections are what make college sports better than all others, and giving a bunch of rowdy 18-22 year-olds a reason to go nuts (verbally) on an opposing coach & team is just the best. 

    By that same token, Texas returned home and took on Kansas, the long-living king of the Big-12, and took them out in a very tight, contentious game. If you didn't watch the game you missed out on a tense, back and forth up and down type of game that would have even the most seasoned of gamblers sweating through their shirts. But since I mentioned crowds, who doesn't like a reaction like this: 

    Or, to use another game as an example, who doesn't love the reaction of being the road team shutting up your opponent's crowd with a game-winning dagger like what happened here:  

    College Basketball is special, and while it was down for a few years, it feels like it's back, and ready to drive us absolutely mad come March. 

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