1/25/15: Reader: "IT'S TOO EARLY TO DO A BRACKET!" No it isn't.

Welcome back to the blog and happy belated 2015, everybody! We decided to wait a little bit longer to post our first bracket of the season, partially due to real life commitments (Chris and I both have day jobs). The other (and primary) reason is because late January is when the signal starts to get separated from the noise. I've already heard chatter on Twitter about how it's "TOO EARLY" to do a bracket, and that this is a totally useless exercise. For starters, we look at bracketology sites because we're unabashed college hoops nerds and we get our kicks out of it. We run Bracketmarch mainly for enjoyment. But also to troll the hell out of all of you. Stop taking it so seriously, guys! Secondly, there is some value in looking at where things stand in late January. Let me make a rather ridiculous (but poignant) analogy via the Earth's geologic history.

Around 200 million years ago, the super continent Pangea looked like a huge amalgamated mess. What are now the continents looked nothing like what they do today. However, the tectonic plates started to shift, and 50 million years later, the Earth began to show what the continents were going to look like today. If you were alive around that time and looked down from space, you'd be able to differentiate South America from Africa and North America from Asia. Take a look:  

In a nutshell, Pangea is what the college basketball picture looks like in late December and early January. The out of conference schedule is largely finished, but we have no idea who is going to hit a wall and break down in conference play. This year, there are teams like UNLV, which beat Arizona, that looked like they had a serious shot at an at-large, only to quickly fold after the new year. With a few weeks of the conference schedule under our belt, we have a solid idea of who can sustain solid play through most of the season. I looked back at my bracket from late January 2014, and roughly 80 percent of the teams in that bracket made the field. More than 60 percent of teams were within 2-3 seed lines of their final standing on Selection Sunday. So while yes, this is primarily for our entertainment, there's something to be gained if you want to know where your team stands about 60% of the way through the college hoops season. So kick back, relax, and enjoy the madness! We'll be updating the bracket at least weekly as well as throwing in blog posts/podcasts in between. Happy hoops season!