The bubble is everywhere. You can’t escape it. Pick any site that covers college basketball, and one word inevitably appears when you visit it: “bubble.” Blind résumés are all the rage; Joey Brackets has taken over our TV screens; coaches inevitably plead with the Selection Committee in postgame press conferences. The bubble consumes us all. But as we hit the home stretch of the regular season, it’s important to not lose sight of what’s going on outside of those 15-20 teams that comprise the globule of uncertainty. Sure, it’s nice to make the NCAA Tournament, but just getting there only to get blown out doesn’t compare to winning championships. Winning the NCAA Tournament is the ultimate goal for any Division I program. Reaching a Final Four is a close second. The third and most attainable in the hierarchy of goals, though, is to win a regular season conference championship.

These Guys Know Something About Conference Championships (USA Today Images)

Regular season championships have become criminally devalued. Conference tournaments get all the buzz and corresponding attention because it is through those that teams punch their tickets to the Big Dance. But anybody can get hot and make a three- or four-game run next week. True champions are crowned over the course of a couple of months of games. This year we enter the final week of the regular season already with three outright champions among the power leagues: Kentucky has locked up the SEC; Virginia clinched an outright ACC title on Monday night; and Villanova is your Big East champion. Kansas has already clinched at least a tie in the Big 12, and barring something unforeseen, Wisconsin and Arizona are on track to win their respective conferences too. There are a few others, however, that should garner some of your attention.

• AAC. The watered-down AAC has been pretty poor this year but it could end up with as many as four NCAA Tournament teams. Two of that group — Tulsa and SMU — are in contention for an outright conference title. The Golden Hurricane have been the surprise package, sitting atop the standings at 14-2. SMU, the preseason favorite, sits a half-game back at 14-3. Tulsa hosts Cincinnati on Wednesday before the perfect scenario could play out in Dallas on Sunday: Tulsa at SMU. The winner will be the top seed in the AAC Tournament in Hartford, and if Tulsa falls to the Bearcats in the midweek, this weekend’s game will be for an outright title.

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Here we go again with yet another rushing the court debate. We have had it so many times before that I have lost count on whether this debate has gone full Gary Busey or has taken a detour down the road of who actually gives a flying elbow. Personally, I don’t understand the arguments against it — sans safety concerns. I literally giggle whenever a man in his 60s talks about a kid in his late teens or early twenties recognizing whatever school’s history, tradition or proper court-storming etiquette should be, as if the the student actually cares about any of that and isn’t there to just have a good time.

The Fun Polizei Are At It Again (USA Today Images)

But that isn’t what bothers me. No, sir. I am a selfish person. Your opinion of having teams forfeit games because of fans is stupid. I mean, do you want actors punished for fans’ actions too? How about punishing you for the things that your unborn offspring do? “God slammit, Johnny! Your wife’s womb is shaking and it is making my chair not as comfortable. Banish her!” (End scene) I can honestly give two-poops about your opinion as far as kids rushing the court are concerned. I got bigger fish to fry.

So, let’s go.

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Remember when I said I was selfish? Good, because I am. With that being said, let me get back to my only concern — sans safety (because that is a legitimate one) — with the rushing the court debate. I happen to write the best column called A Column of Enchantment anywhere on the Interwebs. I happen to write such a column on a wonderful, sexy and insightful website called Rush the Court. As the main-man-in-charge of making my stuff relatively readable on that website has pointed out, this can lead to some extreme changes.

According to Whois, both http://t.co/1EiCTOJiVe and http://t.co/gRBG9AMqe8 are available. Paypal acct firing up… @JosephNardone

— Rush the Court (@rushthecourt) February 24, 2015

For the love of everything holy and independent college basketball sites, Batman! If the fun-police or whoever win, what does that mean for Rush the Court? Would it be forced to shut down? Would Randy have to change the name of the site to something more appropriate to the changing of the times? Is www.Lightlytappingacrossthehardwood(dot)com still available on GoDaddy? That might mean I would be forced to change the name of my column too. How enchanting could they really be if it didn’t mean there wouldn’t be the slightest chance of young people rushing right through it in a fit of drunken rage? Somehow I don’t think A Column of Appropriate Discourse is as appealing to my dozens and dozens of loyal readers.

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