It is never too early to start thinking about the NCAA basketball tournament, better known to the masses as "March Madness." The conclusion of a recent game between Georgetown and West Virginia reminded me that it is almost that wonderful time of year. A friend called to see if I was watching the final moments of that game, and I quickly turned to see West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler drive the baseline for a layup only to have it blocked by Patrick Ewing Jr. at the buzzer to preserve a Hoyas' win.

Visions of the 2005 tourney danced through my head. The same friend had called midway through one of the games that day and asked, "Are you watching this?" Was he kidding? No college basketball fan, strike that, no sports fan would have been in their right mind to miss what was happening that day on four courts across the country. Who could forget the weekend of the "Elite Eight," as three of the four games went down to the wire with heart-pounding action?

There was Arizona's Salim Stoudamire knocking down one big shot after another only to be upstaged by Illinois' terrific trio of guards, Dee Brown, Luther Head and Deron Williams – all now in the NBA I might add – as Arizona fell 90-89 in overtime.

Or how about the 93-85 affair that went into overtime too, as Louisville, behind Taquan Dean and Larry O'Bannon, came back from a 20-point deficit to get past West Virginia? The Mountaineers were led by the red-hot shooting of 6-11 Kevin Pittsnogle. Incredibly, West Virginia had drained 10 three-point shots in the first half alone. Now the name Pittsnogle is un-forgettable and just right to be on the big stage of the tournament, and he led the Mountaineers on a great run until the Cardinals unleashed a shooting display of their own in that memorable regional championship final.

Amazingly, a third regional final went into overtime when Michigan St. outlasted Kentucky, 94-88 in two overtimes, and the fourth regional final was close too, as eventual national champ North Carolina beat Wisconsin, 88-82.

That season's tourney was thrilling, as they all are, but watching these young men perform in such situations begged a question – Is there any other place or situation in the world where young people, men and women ages 18-24, perform such extraordinary feats under such remarkable amounts of pressure? I can't imagine there is such a place or situation on earth such as the NCAA tournament.

Therein lies the beauty of the tournament and having watched it since the UCLA dynasty was in full swing in 1970 when Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe and Henry Bibby (that's right, Mike's dad) were doing their thing in Westwood, it is a wonder in itself to see how it has evolved from a 16-team tourney back then to the 65 teams who compete for the coveted title now.

Besides the actual games, some of my fondest memories associated with the NCAA's are actually related to attending another basketball tournament. The California state high school championships are held every year in mid-March at Sacramento's Arco Arena. It is the greatest spectacle to see all of the hoop junkies (myself included) advance to the nearest refreshment stand (or corporate suite's TV screen) at halftime of each game to see who is winning in the round of 32 for a chance to advance to the "Sweet Sixteen." More fascinating is that the day is not complete without watching the Gonzaga Bulldogs execute their offense and scare the wits out of one of the mightier programs in the country, as they did as the No. 9 seed while falling to No. 1 Arizona in 2003, 96-95.

Every March, the same 1,000 people are hanging around the same television monitors in Arco pulling for Matt Santangelo, Casey Calvary or Adam Morrison to lead the underdogs to the big upset over Goliath. It is truly a sports spectacle to witness.

The best part is watching individuals who never considered themselves fans of the game (and I reeled in two new members with that memorable weekend in 2005) begin to remind me, as they did a few days ago, that "the madness" is just around the corner. It is also a mission accomplished because one just can't be considered a sports fan until they survive viewing, and find themselves thoroughly enjoying, the NCAA tournament.