*Note
I wrote a similar article for the Purdue SB Nation site using K-State and Tennessee as an example. You’ll excuse me if I plagiarize myself a little. Since both posts are on SB Nation, I’m OK with it.
My interest in college basketball starts to ramp up in January. I catch the vast majority of Purdue, Clemson, and Kansas State games because I write about those schools, but other than that, November and December basketball don’t do it for me. I’ve been burned too many times by hot starts that fizzle out into disappointment (looking at you Clemson) or slow starts that blossom into historic seasons (ahem, Purdue last year).