With about nine minutes to go in the second half of an epic, scintillating, head-on-a-swivel, time-capsule, mid-December college basketball game between two bluebloods teeming with elite talent performing at maximum capacity, CBS broadcaster Brad Nessler let loose a quip that beautifully fit the moment:
“If you’re just joining us,” Nessler said, “then shame on you.”
Nessler may have been talking about Kentucky and North Carolina, but he could also have been talking about this college basketball season. For too long, the sport has been saddled by a demeaning narrative that the games don’t matter until March—or at the very least, early January, when conference play gets underway.