College basketball finally has the spotlight. Here’s everything football fans need to know

So football’s over and now you need something to do. You’re already caught up on your favorite television shows, and the good ones don’t start back up for another few months. You can’t start gardening until it gets warmer out, video games aren’t your thing, and your family is super annoying.

So I guess you’re all out of options, right? Wrong.

Research shows that college basketball has been going on since the first half of November, and that it has been very, very fun. Research also shows that the sport is set to invade all aspects of American life exactly one month from now. With these two statements being absolute facts, you might as well get up to speed before it’s too late.

For all of you out there who have been too fixated on the gridiron since September to do anything else, it’s cool. We don’t really get why you can’t juggle more than one thing, but it’s cool. You’ve got some questions about what you’ve missed on the hardwood since November, and we have your answers.

We actually don’t have a good answer for that.

Well which teams do people think are good?

It’s difficult to say right now since we’re coming off a weekend where six of the top 10 teams in the AP Poll lost on the same day for the first time since 1994. This was supposed to be a year where the sport’s traditional powers dominated and separated themselves from the rest of the country, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Three months into the season, it still feels like a wide-open race for the national championship. The best way to answer your question is to look at Chris Dobbertean’s latest Bracketology and note that his current four No. 1 seeds are Gonzaga, Kansas, Baylor, and Villanova.

Gonzaga sounds like it’s made up.

It’s not. They’ve been to the NCAA tournament in each of the last 18 years, and they’re the only undefeated team in the country.

Wait, so they’re always good and they haven’t lost a game this year? I thought you said nobody could agree on which teams are good. Everybody has to be in agreement that Gonzaga’s good, right?

Uhh ...

Remember when Villanova hit that shot?

Yeah.

That was awesome. Are they gonna make the bracket this year?

We just told you that they are currently a No. 1 seed, and please never say “make the bracket” at any other point over the course of the next month.

So why aren’t people sure that Villanova’s good?

That’s a much better question.

The reigning national champions have just two losses, and they’re both understandable — on the road against Butler and on the road against Marquette. They also have the potential national Player of the Year in Josh Hart, as well as several other key players who helped Jay Wright’s team cut down the nets last year.

Villanova certainly seems to have as good a shot as any team to win it all, and if they do, they’ll become college basketball’s first repeat national champion since Florida pulled it off 10 years ago.

We don’t really have time to get into the whole thing with Duke.

Was it Laettner? I saw the thing about him on ESPN. What’d that guy get into this time?

What?

Look, Duke started off this season as a near-unanimous No. 1 and the overwhelming preseason favorite to win the national title. Three of their five-star freshmen were hurt at the beginning of the year and are just now finding their groove. Preseason Player of the Year Grayson Allen has been at the center of a season-long controversy because he keeps being involved in seemingly dirty plays. Lastly, Coach K was forced to miss a month of the season after having surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back.

They’ve had a lot going on and they’ve been a surprise disappointment at 18-5, but most people still believe they have the talent to make things right and play deep into the tournament.

When do they play North Carolina?

This Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, and then again on Saturday, March 4.

When did they start playing twice?

Every year.

There have been plenty, but Kentucky has played in three of the best. The Wildcats lost a 97-92 game against UCLA, knocked off North Carolina in a 103-100 thriller, and then lost to rival Louisville in a 73-70 game where they had a chance to tie at the buzzer.

Villanova and Virginia also played a terrific game two weeks ago that ended with the Wildcats winning on a tip-in at the buzzer.

The Kentucky Wildcats?

No, Villanova and Kentucky are both the Wildcats.

That’s wild. Who are the best players?

We already mentioned Hart, but his biggest competition for national Player of the Year would currently appear to be Kansas guard Frank Mason III. Purdue big man Caleb Swanigan, Baylor forward Johnathan Motley, and UCLA freshman sensation Lonzo Ball are also in the running.

Central Michigan’s Marcus Keene leads the country in scoring at 30.2 ppg, and could be the first Division-I player to average 30 points per game for an entire season since Long Island’s Charles Jones did it 20 years ago.

He also does cool stuff like this.

You know it.

Hey, remember ‘refuse to lose’? That was sweet. What’s up with UMass, they still awesome?

No.

Oh.

Yeah.

Which conference is the best?

The ACC might not be quite as strong at the top as we thought it was going to be, but the league still has a chance to tie a record by sending 11 teams to the NCAA tournament. The Pac-12 is also having one of its best seasons in years, and has three legitimate national title contenders in Oregon, Arizona, and UCLA. But according to Ken Pomeroy’s rankings, the Big 12 is actually the nation’s best conference. Kansas appears to be the class of the league once again, but Baylor is also in the running for a No. 1 seed, and West Virginia has been fantastic as well.

Is Bob Huggins still a character?

Bob Huggins is still a character.

Kansas has won at least a share of the Big 12’s regular season championship in 12 consecutive seasons. They are currently leading the league by a game and a half.

DePaul is still bad.

Oh yeah.

Northwestern?

Actually ...

Actually ...

Sweet Jesus. Can I at least make fun of Pitt for hiring that dude who looks like the dude from The Office?

You sure can. The Panthers are in last place in the ACC with a 1-9 record under Kevin—

Kevin! That’s his name. Kevin Malone. Dropped his chili one time. Hilarious.

Stallings. Meanwhile, Jamie Dixon has TCU at 16-7 and fighting for a spot in the tournament

Creed was so underrated, too. All right, is there anything else I need to know?

Sure, let’s end with a flurry.

— Gonzaga is No. 1 for just the second time in program history. The last time they held the title was 2013, when they were eventually upset by Wichita State in the second round of the tournament.

— Speaking of Wichita State, even without Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker, they’re really good again, too. The Shockers currently lead the Missouri Valley with an 11-1 record and an overall mark of 21-4.

— Jim Boeheim won his 1,000th game at Syracuse, even if the NCAA doesn’t recognize all 1,000.

— Despite having the likely No. 1 pick in the next NBA draft, Washington is really bad.

— Duke’s bizarre season is too difficult to explain in a paragraph.

— Even though madness was supposed to be relatively low this season, that has not been the case at all.

— For the first time ever, there’s going to be a pre-selection show, selection show. It’s going down this Saturday.

Not great.