It's beginning to look a lot like March

Okay, so as I type this, the date is February 16. Still 13 days until March, but I'm telling you, if the level of play in college hoops is any indication, March Madness is already here.

Sitting courtside at Trask Coliseum last night, I watched a fierce game between two of the CAA's best teams as UNCW successfully defended their home floor and beat Hofstra. The game looked and felt like a CAA Tournament game. I thought so. Hofstra coach Tom Pecora said after the game that he thought so, as did UNCW coach Brad Brownell.

You see, both teams, entering the game, were being talked about as possible "bubble" teams. The CAA is enjoying it's best season in a long time, with a conference RPI of 10. There is an extremely realistic chance that the league will send more than one team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986. A loss for either team last night would likely end any hope of earning an at-large bid into the Big Dance. So in a way, it was an elimination game.

And it sure did feel like it. John Goldsberry hit the deck so many times I can't count. One guy on Hofstra had to come off the floor and get five stitches above his eye. Temi Soyebo knocked knees with a guy and was hobbling around afterwards. There was just a lot of intensity and a lot of bodies falling on the floor.

But UNCW isn't the only place that had some exciting hoops going on. The Tar Heels came back from a 20-point deficit to beat Georgia Tech. Tyler Hansbrough broke a freshman record in the process with 40 points. I am having so much fun watching this young Carolina team play. One of Roy Williams' best coaching jobs? I think so.

It was good to see a few old faces in the media room last night. Brian Hendrickson, who used to be the beat writer for UNCW, among other things at the Wilmington Star-News, was there. He's now covering the Portland Trail (Jail) Blazers for a newspaper in Vancouver, Washington. I'm so happy for Brian, although I don't envy the fact that he has to watch the Blazers night in and night out. That team is brutal! (Although they did beat the Bobcats the other night)

I also saw former WWAY sports gal Dawn Davenport. She's working up in Richmond, VA now a days and doing well for herself. It's always good to see media members from this town move on and do well in larger markets.

I guess Sammy Sosa is done now. I hate to say it, but who really cares? Ever since the corked bat, I haven't thought the same of Swingin' Sammy. I mean, come on! The guy said it was the first time he'd ever used a corked bat in a game, but in the same breath, said it was an accident, and that he didn't know he picked it up. If it was an accident, how do you know it was the first time? If it's that easy to accidentally pick up a corked bat and take it to the plate, chances are you've done it plenty of times before. Don't insult our intelligence, Sammy.

Well...time to go do some show prep. Talk to you guys later on.