It's time for March Madness

Even the weather today in New Jersey was pointing to signs of better times. With February here and gone it's time for the best month of the year in sports, March Madness. Cue up the CBS music, the bands, the cheerleaders and of course the Cinderellas. Get your brackets ready and enjoy the best month in sports.

The regular season is winding down and one thing is for sure, there is no favorite to take home the title this year. This past weekend alone showed the crazy carousel that is college basketball.

Former No. 1 Kansas lost to Oklahoma State 85-77 and showed the country the Jayhawks may not be top dog in the Big 12. Kentucky was at No. 2 last week before losing to Tennessee 74-65. There is no doubt John Wall is the best player in the country, but DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Paterson are going to need to step up for the SEC tournament.

Purdue may have had the worst week of any team in college basketball after losing star player Robbie Hummel to an ACL injury as well as falling to Michigan State 53-44. It will be up to E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson to pick up the slack for the Boilermakers.

Syracuse is the new No. 1 this week and may be the favorite to be the top seed in the tournament if they can survive the Big East tournament. The Orange were able to crush No. 8 Villanova 95-77 in front of a record crowd of 34,616 at the Carrier Dome. Jim Boeheim has him team on track at the right time as March Madness nears.

Many "bracket experts" love to focus on the potential Cinderellas but who knows who the next George Mason or Valpo will be? So here are a few more top 25 teams to look out for in March.

No. 7- Ohio State (23-7)

This Big Ten team may have been overlooked by many in the beginning of the season, but Evan Turner has certainly opened the eyes of many college basketball fans. With a core set of guards the Buckeyes are poised to make a run deep into the tourney. Thad Matta's team stumbled early against North Carolina and Butler, but his team has stepped up recently with wins on the road over Illinois and Michigan State.

No. 10- New Mexico (27-3)

Too bad the Lobos huge win over No. 11 BYU will be over shadowed by Steve Alford's potty mouth. Darington Hobson and Roman Martinez can score at will and should help push the Lobos past the first two rounds. This should be one "mid-major" team that can take care of business and represent the Mountain West well.

No. 16- Temple (24-5)

With signature wins over Villanova, Seton Hall, and Xavier, the Owls may be the best Atlantic-10 team in the field of 65. If Lavoy Allen can start scoring more, it will help out the likes of guards Ryan Brooks and Juan Fernandez. The Atlantic-10 is getting loads of respect this year but the Owls will have to be the team to carry the conference in March.

No. 23- Maryland (21-7)

Gary Williams was on the hot seat early after losses to Cincinnati, Villanova, and William & Mary, but the late surge by the Terrapins has put them right behind Duke in the ACC. Greivis Vasquez is averaging 19.5 ppg, but the senior will need help from a depleted bench in order to score more points. Maryland has key wins over Virgina Tech and Florida State, but the Terrapins will be tested if they are matched up in the tourney against a team with size down low.

There is no doubt March Madness is my favorite time for sports. On any given day a team can salvage their season or have it come crumbling down. As the next weeks move on, more teams will creep into the top 25 and over and over again we will hear the term bracket buster and Cinderella. The best part about March Madness is that it is unpredictable, it is the ultimate Craps shoot and I can't get enough of it. As Gus Johnson says, it time to "RISE AND FIRE".