And this weekend the first Bowl Championship Series rankings for college football comes out, making all the other polls irrelevant for the rest of the season.

Chances are, there are going to be plenty of teams and fans upset with the first poll. And when all is said and done and the BCS computers tell us who is going to play for the national championship in January, everyone will complain about why we have to sit through another title game featuring either Ohio State, Florida or LSU, and not Boise State, Utah or BYU.

Aren’t you lucky fans of college basketball thrilled that a computer doesn’t determine which teams play for the national championship?

That’s one of the many reasons why college basketball rocks over college football.

I decided to create my own top 20 list letting you know why. I was going to list 100 reasons, but 20 should be enough.

So here you are ladies and gentlemen with apologies to Mr. David Letterman, and the great Ms. Allison Boyer over at BCS Frenzy – from the home office in Long Beach, California, here are the Top 20 Reasons College Basketball is Better than College Football.

20. At schools such as Vanderbilt, Duke and Northwestern, no one riots and starts talking about a national championship when the basketball teams start 3-0.

19. “One Shining Moment”

18. The Cameron Crazies

17. No games spent outside freezing in Ohio or Michigan or in the heat and smog in Los Angeles.

16. A lottery pick usually gets a player sent to the Los Angeles Clippers where he gets to share the same building and gets to hobnob with Kobe Bryant.

15. The championship flags in places like UCLA, Duke and Kentucky leave a nice breeze during a hot game.

14. In college basketball Duke vs. North Carolina matters nationally.

13. Players usually get Christmas and New Year’s days off to watch all those college football bowl games.

12. Filling out brackets and spending the next two weeks in the face of your boss, co-workers, spouse and anyone who will listen about you being the only one to pick a team like Davidson to reach to the Elite Eight.

11. Midnight Madness.

10. Selection Sunday.

9. March Madness costing companies almost as much money in lost time as the recent federal bailout cost us taxpayers.

8. Bracket Busters

7. Cinderella Teams.

6. Ms. Pat Summitt.

5. Mr. Donald Lee Haskins

4. Mr. John Robert Wooden

3. March Madness

2. Non BCS teams are eligible for the national championship.

1. There is no BCS!

Post from: EveryJoe

Why College Basketball is Better than College Football

March Madness is fast approaching.

Every conference game matters. One big win could secure your team a birth in the NCAA tournament. One huge loss could dash your team’s hopes to play in the post-season.

Here are some of the biggest games to watch this week:

Tonight: #15 Michigan State at #9 Wisconsin - the Badgers are tied for first place in the Big Ten with Indiana and Purdue, while the Spartans are trying to play catch-up. Wisconsin needs to win this game to put the pressure on the Boilermakers and Hoosiers.

Saturday March 1st – Kansas State at #7 Kansas – super-freshman Michael Beasley could do a lot for his Player of the Year candidacy if he leads the Wildcats to a victory over UK. The Jayhawks are one game behind Texas in the Big 12 standings, and a loss to KSU would really hurt their chances at winning the regular season conference title.

Sunday March 2nd – #4 UCLA at Arizona – Arizona lost by 22 to UCLA at Pauley Pavilion back in early February, but the Wildcats are a different team at home. Kevin Love and the Bruins should be on high upset alert.

Post from: EveryJoe

Games to watch this week – February 28th

Saturday February 16:

#7 Stanford at Arizona – the Wildcats are on a roll at home right now, as they have defeated Washington State, Washington and USC in their last three home games. Arizona played the Cardinal very tight in their last meeting on January 17th at Stanford, losing 56-52. Stanford needs to be on serious upset alert.

#9 Michigan State at #12 Indiana – the Hoosiers will be playing this game under a cloud of distractions, as head coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff are facing serious recruiting violations reported by the NCAA. It might bring the Hoosiers together, or it could tear them apart.

#6 UCLA at USC – the Bruins will be out for revenge, as the Trojans trounced them 72-63 at Pauley Pavilion back on January 19th. The Trojans played out of their heads that night – can they make it two-for-two against their cross-town rivals?

Post from: EveryJoe

Games to watch this week – February 14th

Are you tired of watching the Republican and Democratic debates? Are you sick of watching reruns of your favorite television shows? I have just the cure for what ails you…

Here are some top-notch college basketball games to check out this week:

Wednesday January 30: #2 Kansas at #24 Kansas State – Don’t be surprised if the Jayhawks fall from the ranks of the unbeaten tonight. Kansas State is for real, and you never know what is going to happen in big rivalry games.

Thursday January 31: #11 Indiana at #13 Wisconsin – a dynamite Big Ten battle will take place in Madison as the Badgers host the red hot Hoosiers. This very well may be the best game of the entire week.

Saturday February 2: #8 Tennessee at #25 Mississippi State – Chris Lofton and the Vols face a stiff road test as they travel to Humphrey Coliseum to face the Bulldogs. Great SEC contest.

Post from: EveryJoe

UPDATED: Games to watch this week – 1/30

Gordon fell hard on his back and suffered a soft tissue injury between his hip and lower back. His status for Indiana’s game on Saturday against Kentucky is questionable.

Hopefully, this back injury will heal quickly and won’t keep Gordon out of action for a long period of time. But, back injuries are always tricky and it doesn’t take much to tweak it again.

UPDATED: December 13th – Gordon has participated in all practices this week and has been cleared to play against Western Carolina on Saturday. This is great news for the Hoosiers, who definitely missed Gordon’s 24.3 points per game in their lineup.

If Western Carolina is smart, they will be very physical with Gordon and will test his aching back out early and often.

Post from: EveryJoe

UPDATED 12/13: Injury scare for Hoosiers’ Gordon