Have you been so consumed by football for the last five months that you’re woefully behind on what’s been happening in the world of men’s college basketball? Does your body begin to tremble at the mere thought of entering a weekend with no football for the first time since August? Would you like to at least sound like you know what you’re talking about once March Madness rolls around in a month?

Once again, we here at SB Nation have you, the diehard football fan who is finally ready to start paying attention to college hoops now that your weekends are football free, covered.

Let’s hear your questions.

Tell me who’s gonna win it all.

OK, not a question. Bad start, but we can still dive into this.

The No. 1 team in the country according to most predictive metrics and the betting favorite to win the national title according to most oddsmakers is Michigan. The Wolverines are 22-1, they’re the first Big Ten team ever to have seven wins by 40 points or more, and they’re the first team in college basketball history to beat three AP top 25 teams by 30 points or more. Their only loss was a surprising one — a 91-88 home loss to a not great Wisconsin team back on Jan. 10.

The current No. 1 team in both the human polls is Arizona. The Wildcats were a perfect 23-0 before losing at Kansas (82-78) Monday night. ‘Zona is elite despite taking the third fewest three-pointers of any team in college basketball.

Duke, Houston, Illinois and UConn are also considered top-tier national title contenders at the moment. Teams like Florida, Iowa State, Purdue, Michigan State, Gonzaga and Kansas are also squads that appear to have the ability to win six games in three weeks.

Isn’t there a really good freshman that people think could win it all and be the No. 1 pick like Flagg last year?

Duke actually did not win the title last year.

That’s right. I actually meant like Zion a few years ago.

There are actually a number of ridiculously high level superstar freshmen this season. So much so, that it’s kind of been the story of the season.

Again, that’s up for debate, but we can run down a handful of the best.

Duke’s Cameron Boozer is the current favorite for pretty much every national Player of the Year award. The 6’9 son of former Blue Devil legend Carlos Boozer is currently averaging. 23.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa was the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting class according to multiple scouting services, and he has definitely lived up to the hype. Dybantsa is currently leading the country in scoring at 24.5 ppg.

Caleb Wilson is a human highlight machine for North Carolina. Keaton Wagler was not a highly-touted prospect coming out of high school but has been the best player for a top 10 Illinois team. Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac have been terrific for a top 10 Houston team. Ditto for Brayden Burries and Koa Peat at Arizona. Darius Acuff (Arkansas) and Nate Ament (Tennessee) have both been lighting up the SEC. Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. and Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie have both set school scoring records by dropping 40+ in games.

And then there’s Darryn Peterson at Kansas. The potential No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft is averaging 20.5 ppg for a top 10 Kansas team, but the biggest storyline surrounding him all year has been why he’s sitting out so many games and seeming to pull himself out of games late.

Is he acting on the advice of an agent or a parent or another authority figure?

Is the lack of transparency driving Kansas fans insane?

Have there been any other weird off-the-court stories about player eligibility?

Do you want to tell me about them?

Can you show me some cool dunks from the season?

Here’s Luke Almodovar from Southeast Missouri State absolutely destroying a Southern Indiana Screaming Eagle.

UNC freshman star Caleb Wilson has been a human highlight machine all season long.

Kentucky’s Collin Chandler got his dunk of the year submission in on opening night.

So if Arizona is No. 1 and just lost for the first time, I guess there are no undefeated teams now.

Miami! What a few months for ‘Canes fans!

They have Bain out there suiting up for the hoops squad?

NO, IT’S ACTUALLY THE MIAMI UNIVERSITY REDHAWKS.

Oh, that’s cool. I loved the Wally Szczerbiak team that crashed the Sweet 16 and the Devin Davis squad that knocked off Damon Stoudamire and Arizona in ‘95.

Wow, that’s surprisingly insightful.

Did you know that Miami was a university before Florida was a state?

That’s what they say in Oxford.

Anyway, Travis Steele’s Redhawks are now 24-0 heading into Friday night’s nationally televised matchup against rival Ohio. The only problem is that Miami has played the 361st-toughest schedule in the country, so if they have a gaudy record but don’t win the Mid-American Tournament, there’s a real chance they could still be left out of the NCAA Tournament.

Do you remember Gary Trent? The “Shaq of the Mac?”

Your 1990s Mid-American basketball knowledge continues to pleasantly surprise.

Wasn’t the SEC like really good last year?

Historically good, actually. The league is solid again this season, but it’s actually the Big 12 that’s running with the title of best conference in the country.

The league’s six best teams — Arizona, Houston, Kansas, Iowa State, Texas Tech and BYU — all seem fully capable of making runs to the Final Four.

Well they can’t all make the Final Four.

No, that’s not what I was try—

That’s just bad math. Hey wasn’t there some drama with an NBA guy playing for Alabama or something?

Do you want to tell me about it?

OK, here’s as concise an explanation as I can give:

Charles Bediako is a center who played for Alabama from 2021-23 before deciding to turn pro and declare for the NBA Draft. He went undrafted and spent the next couple of years playing in the NBA G League. In January he filed a lawsuit against the NCAA after the organization denied Alabama’s initial request to reinstate his collegiate eligibility, arguing that its rules unfairly bar players who signed professional contracts from returning to college basketball despite his being within the five-year eligibility window.

A Tuscaloosa County judge — who we later found out was an Alabama booster — granted Bediako a temporary restraining order that blocked the NCAA from enforcing its rules and allowed him to play in five games for the Crimson Tide. However, earlier this week, a new judge denied Bediako’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the NCAA’s eligibility rules, meaning the temporary order expired and he is now no longer eligible to play for Alabama this season.

Well that’s not as fun as the other stuff.

Yeah, you didn’t like that, did you?

Is Alabama going to get in trouble for playing him even though the NCAA technically ruled him ineligible from the beginning?

Isn’t this a lot like the James Wiseman situation at Memphis a few years ago where they did get punished?

Are there other weird eligibility stories out there incolving players who would have never been declared eligible before the last couple of years?

There are. Do you really want to get into that?

Not especially. Hey hasn’t it been like a billion years since a Big Ten team won it all?

Yes. The last Big Ten team to win the national championship was Michigan State in 2000.

And hasn’t it been even longer since a West Coast team won it all?

Yes. The last “West Coast” team to cut down the nets was Arizona in 1997.

Any Pac-12 teams have a shot to cut down the nets this year?

I know you’re joking, but the Pac-12 is actually coming back next season. It just won’t look the way it used to.

So UCLA’s gonna be in it?

So Arizona’s gonna be in it?

So Gonzaga’s gonna be in it?

Well, yes, actually. But they were never in the original Pac-12.

So which is more likely: Finally a Big 10 champion or finally a West Coast champion?

The Big 1o definitely has multiple legitimate national title contenders. Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State and Nebraska — famously the only power conference team to have never won a game in the NCAA Tournament — are all very, very good.

Arizona is a top-tier contender and Gonzaga, which has only lost twice, also figures to be a top-4 seed on Selection Sunday.

What’s the biggest story in the sport outside of the super freshmen and the other things we’ve talked about?

I think it’s simply how sensational the on-court product has been so far this season.

Despite all the drama and the debating about new rules, the eligibility decisions, NIL, the transfer portal and all these other things, when the focus has been just on the games, this season has delivered at every stage.

November and December were loaded with high-profile matchups between preseason top 25 teams, and it has seemed like every time we’ve gotten a showdown between two of the most exciting teams in the sport, that matchup has delivered. There are stars everywhere. There are a handful of truly great teams, but they all play different styles and there isn’t one that, at the moment, appears to be clearly dominant over the others. It’s just been a phenomenal year of basketball.

Case in point: Check out the ending from last Saturday’s rivalry showdown between North Carolina and Duke:

Oh man, that’s getting me into the March mindset. Show me some other buzzer-beaters from this season so I can really get there.

Here’s SMU’s Boopie Miller from halfcourt to beat Virginia Tech at the horn:

Pyro guy had one job and he f’ing nailed it.

Here’s Saint Francis (Pa) winning one with a true buzzer-beater:

And then here’s Kentucky with a Christian Laettner-esque full-court pass miracle:

Like I said, it’s been a phenomenal season.

So that means we’re going to have a phenomenal tournament?

I don’t really like to do that before we get the actual bracket.

It’s a totally pointless exercise to pick a Final Four when so much of who makes up the Final Four is based on tournament draw. If you pick four teams right now, two or three of them might end up being in the same region on Selection Sunday.

Well I’m going to stay away from young coaches with little tournament experience. I feel like that’s always the safest route.

Florida literally won the national title last year with a coach who looks like he’s 15 and had never won a game in the tournament before.

Oh yeah. I was thinking UConn went back-to-back.

I thought you said Florida won.

They did. UConn went back-to-back the two years before that.

I don’t think Gonzaga’s ever gonna win it all.

Enjoy the rest of the season. It’s going to be a blast.