When I think of the sport I enjoy watching the most, college basketball immediately comes to mind. It’s not that other sports, such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, CFB are bad, but lately they are not resonating with me as they once did. Sure, the National Football League is great, Sunday’s this time of year you can pretty much sit your ass on the couch all day and watch people hit each other for 8 hour. (You do this while stuffing your face with wings, chips, and beer – then have the audacity to criticize the players and coaches)

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But no other sport is as balanced, TV friendly, or easy to start enjoying whether you start watching in November or March.  The number one reason college basketball is so great is the depth of talent. With only 5 players starting, and 12-14 total players per team, the immense talent spread across the nation can fill out collegiate rosters with ease.  This is the reason you see March Madness, and Butler make a run to the sweet sixteen, or a bunch of hicks from Vermont knock of perennial powerhouse Syracuse. Football has a 50 man roster, Baseball a 25-30.

Roster size also affects the dynamics of the team. In this case, smaller is better – there is a more intimate connection between the players on the floor. If one player is struggling its harder for the team to overcome. Likewise, when one player dominates, the team stands a great chance to win (Steph Curry with Davidson a few years back).

I’ve heard many times that college basketball is all about coaches, and its true. While I can’t name you a single player on Gonzaga this year, I know their coach Mark Few is going to have that squad positioned for a run in the tournament come March. Once you get to know the coaches you get an immediate idea of the power structure of the league.

The balance between great and good coaches is what makes the difference come March. Sure, upsets happen, and Cinderella goes dancing for a few games, but in the end the combination of great coaches with great talent, and good coaches with good talent wins out.

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The final piece of the puzzle here is the fans. Find me an NFL stadium, MLB ball park, or NBA arena with such a close nit, coordinated, and quite frankly drunk group of people and I’ll eat my hat (in typing that last part i aged by 50 years and got nervous my social security check got lost in the mail).

The fans at these games CARE. They don’t pay obscene amounts of money for a ticket, try to impress clients, and show a passion not seen outside from the soccer pitch in Europe. Why bother with a 4 hour baseball game with half the stadium more interested in seeing the Rally Monkey than the game itself, when you can watch a 2 hour fast paced game and get pulled in by the energy of the crowd?

As much as I love all sports, nothing else quite comes together for me like college basketball does. Great players, legendary coaches, passionate fans, and only 2 hours; its the perfect recipe for the greatest sport on Earth.