The conference tournament coverage of NCAA Division I men’s basketball has already begun, and that can only mean one thing: Selection Sunday is soon to come. For most teams, pre-season began all the way back in November. It all boils down to one month: March. In the early spring, the country is annually overcome with a type of Madness that only NCAA basketball can bring. This week, the results of the Big East, SEC, ACC, MCC, Sun Belt, Horizon, NEC, Big Sky, Pac-10, WAC, Big Ten, A-10, Big 12, and C-USA conference tournaments will play out – to name some of them. Indeed, the upcoming week and weekend are going to rich for basketball lovers of all kinds. But it’s really Selection Sunday that everyone looks forward to, and what every NCAA Tournament hopeful team is going to be watching. On only one night of the year, sixty-five teams are chosen. One will become a Champion. Heady fodder for basketball lovers, indeed. This Sunday’s broadcast will air at 6 pm ET, on CBS. On that night, the die will be cast, and the Big Dance will truly begin.

Though men’s college basketball began in the fall, it’s the spring that every fan looks forward to. Now that March is finally here, Madness will sweep across the land. Everyone will break out their college colors and become bracket experts over night, and only the next few weeks will determine just who’s team is, indeed, the best. Tournament play is here, in the form of conference titles and then the Big Dance, the NCAA tourney.

This year, the victory could go to almost any Division I team. Many of the big-name schools that have been key elements to the NCAA Tournament in the past are looking rather dubious this year. Top programs Kentucky and Duke have both suffered less-than-steller seasons, and defending champion team Florida has suffered recent late-season losses sure to affect their tourney seeding. This leaves the field wide open for less recognizable schools to compete for the top tournament slots. The Duke Blue Devils have finished in the AP ratings roll top ten every year since 1997 – but this run has abruptly ended this year, leaving their usual locked-down #1 tournament seed open for a new team. Will the nationally-renown basketball programs pick up the pace for the tournament, or will the Big Dance this year resemble a whole new ball game? Last year’s results were surprising when the Florida Gators managed to snag the title for the first time in the school’s history, and many sportscasters have predicted that they’ll do it again for back-to-back trophies. Perhaps their upcoming SEC tournament will show a strengthening Florida team, instead of the defeatable Gators their last five games have displayed.

Television coverage of tournament play will be widely broadcast, with CBS, ESPN, and other networks getting in on the action. For cable lovers, March Madness will also be featured On Demand by CBS. Fans will be able to see it all, even if they can’t predict the outcome. Only one thing is certain: the NCAA Tournament this year, like every year, will be full of upsets, surprise victories, and basketball thrills. Have you got your game face on?