In a typical year of college basketball, November offers early excitement, December yields separation and January aims for clarity.
But this February demands scrutiny, especially in a season that has felt like a piggyback ride up a rocky hillside. This search for the teams that might surprise us, the programs that treaded water in the first three months of the year but gradually developed the strong stroke that often sends waves through March Madness, did not begin Saturday.
Yet, the feverish day -- see Buddy Hield, Kansas-Kentucky and that Danuel House dunk -- submerged a significant storyline in Gainesville, Florida, that could resonate with both the casual and dedicated crowds once the NCAA tournament approaches.