College Hoops!
Saying those 2 words alone gets me excited. Why? Because i believe COLLEGE SPORTS in general to feature the softest lines of the "major" sports. Obviously CFB we go 120 teams deep, while CBB we go 345 deep. It's simply impossible for us NOT to find value during CBB season, when teams are playing upwards of 30 games a season. So many concepts, so many theories, and none of them are necessarily wrong.
As far as what made me love CBB the most of the major sports? That's an easy answer, because of the challenge of memorizing each conference and each team. It took me nearly a decade before i felt confident in making any play, in any conference. When i first started capping, i started with simply WEST COAST conferences, and as the years went by i slowly ventured out to others. Now here i am going on about a decade worth of capping each team from every conference.
So yeah i "slept in" today. Why? I already have 7 plays loaded for today already. Why? Because the work has already been done for today. Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday cards are always tough.
Do i advocate trying to specialize on all 345 teams? Absolutely not. You must start somewhere, so whatever your favorite conference is or wherever you went to college, start there. You must have a strong base, otherwise you will never grasp the necessary items needed to understand College Basketball. I'm talking about your typical rivalry games, where players get even more hyped up to play against their rival. I'm talking about long bus rides in travel situations. How certain coaches from certain teams handle in season revenge. It's all vital to have success, and starting on a small scale is how you grasp that understanding.
I've been lucky enough to meet and work with people like Dave Essler and Sac Lawson, whose knowledge goes 345 deep. I respect that, because i know the time it takes to get there. I single those 2 out, simply because i have met them personally just to see for myself their knowledge. I know there are others, but those are simply the ones i can verify as FACT. It's hard work, but it's also a huge advantage in beating the books in CBB LONG TERM.
This chat today can be about anything. Theory, today's games, whatever. I take pride in my ALL SPORTS work, as i feel confident i can talk about anything. Is it cock? No, it's me being proud of the work i do each day in ALL SPORTS. That's all.
CBB is fun, because you actually have 17-22 year old boys and men who are hopefully as passionate as you are about cashing your ticket. It's good to know the names of the arenas and the seat capacities. It just is. The more you know....
Anyways, let's have a fun day, and i'll be back this afternoon at the below mentioned hour to answer any questions. Much like yesterday, i'll take as much time as i can to answer all the questions. I'd actually be pissed off if it only took an hour, so man up.
Looking forward to your questions - and will be here from 5:30 PM ET to 6:30 PM ET on Thursday to field any and all basketball questions. - Mike Hook.