I know the offseason can be exciting. But, I already miss football. In fact, I’ve been missing football the past two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. During the season, we get to watch the NFL on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays. Plus, we get college games on Saturdays. And then, nothing. It’s like the biggest drought ever from February until August, when pre-season games start. So, who else misses football? And, what do we do now that football is over? Here’s my commentary on filling that void.

I realize that it’s impractical for football players to have the kind of season lengths as athletes in other sports, such as baseball or basketball. It’s just a much more physical game. Playing the amount of games they currently play is the limit. I totally respect that. But, it doesn’t mean I have to like the fact that football has the shortest season of any of our popular sports here in the U.S.

What’s more, no other sport really replaces football in my heart. Basketball is great, and I do enjoy watching it. As a podcast host and writer, I also write and report on basketball. But, it doesn’t have the same flavor as football.

That said, this is the time of year when I finally start getting into the NBA and March Madness. It’s really perfect timing with the end of the football season. Especially March Madness, which really starts to heat up right now. If you’re a football fan and currently in the spirals of depression missing the game, I suggest that you latch onto March Madness, because it’s super fun and starts right around now.

Do a bracket. It’s kind of like fantasy football. Okay, maybe not totally. But, it can help replace that heartbreak.

Which college teams are hot this year? The UConn Huskies men’s basketball team is No. 1 right now in rankings. So, if you’re getting your brackets set early, that’s one to bet on. No. 2 is Purdue, who has been hot the past few years. Rounding out the top five are Houston at No. 3, Marquette at No. 4 and Arizona at No. 5.

Both UConn and Purdue are really in a league all their own. They just keep winning with very few teams tripping them up, which is rare right now in the top 25. In fact, this past week, about half of the top 15 teams suffered losses. One game I watched was Michigan State University vs. Illinois. While MSU isn’t currently ranked in the top 25, Illinois was No. 10. Illinois traveled to East Lansing to take on the Spartans and suffered a surprise defeat. That’s the kind of thing you don’t’ see with UConn or Purdue. I’ll be fascinating to see how this plays out during March Madness. If it boils down to UConn vs. Purdue in the final game, that will make for an exciting Championship game.

What’s also fascinating is to see how certain teams that were in the top five have been faltering. Wisconsin currently sits at No. 20 with a 16-8 record. They’ve actually lost four in a row, most recently falling at Michigan and Rutgers. They’re still on target to get a good seed in March Madness, but they aren’t playing well recently, which is a problem.

Yes, football is over. But, I hope you embrace another sport during the offseason, as I am with basketball. It’s not the same as all the NFL and college football action but it certainly helps.