Conference play - when things get serious

The Top 25 teams are testing themselves against one another to see if they qualify for a  Final Four run. The best of the non-money-conference teams are working hard to make sure they are in position to get an at-large bid if they need one.

For the rest of us, non-conference is just a warm-up, getting out the kinks before conference play begins. Then we will be playing against our own kind - teams we know we ought to be able to match up with. I love the non-conference season because it gives scope to the basketball world and lets me know how things stand comparatively among the conferences. But to us at Little Rock, who are unlikely ever to get an at-large bid, the serious work begins when Belt teams start coming in.