Nov. 7, 2005

I can't wait for the season to start, baby! Let's tip it off, get started as teams begin their march to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

One thing I love about college basketball is competitive early-season tournaments. In college football, there were only a handful of marquee nonconference matchups in the first month of the season. Yes, Texas battled Ohio State and Miami met Florida State ... but there weren't nearly as many early showdowns as college basketball is expected to produce.

Think about some of these tournaments. The 2K Classic, which benefits Coaches vs. Cancer, has Syracuse, Florida, Texas Tech and Wake Forest in the field. The NIT Season Tip-Off has No. 1 Duke, Memphis, Alabama, UCLA and Temple among its competitors.

The Guardians Classic has a very strong field, with Texas, Kentucky, Iowa and West Virginia favored to meet in the tournament's final four.

Then you look at the strong group assembled at the Maui Invitational. This could feature a Final Four preview considering Connecticut, Michigan State, Arizona, Gonzaga, Maryland and Arkansas are all in the field. Imagine what Lute Olson and Bill Self feel with Arizona to face Kansas in the Maui quarterfinals! Incredible.

I can't wait to see the diaper dandies in action. Can they live up to their hype? I am looking forward to seeing the All-Marco Polo players, the new coaches in different places. Wow, it should be awesome, baby, with a capital A!

College basketball is back, better than ever, because the names on the front of the jersey are so special. So many of those big-time schools will be challenged early with these tournaments.

Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in 1979. Send a question for Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.