How Do You Spell March Magic? N-C-A-A-T ... Nothing Changes And Always Terrific

Good morning, and welcome to Christmas in March - the NCAA Tournament.

What will be under the Big Basketball in the living room for you?

NCAA Tournament Presents For You

-LIVE DRAMA: Few watch live TV anymore. Everyone wants to watch their shows when they want to watch their shows. That hurts self-discipline. 

-MANDATORY BINGE WATCHING: This is not the kind of binge viewing available on Netflix or Peacock or Apple, etc. This is must-see-now, binge watching in real time, one game after another from about noon to about midnight, depending on where you live. This is not clicking one more episode of "Apples Never Fall" at 3:30 a.m. when you probably should be falling asleep. Pause the NCAA Tournament, and you'll be behind the rest of the nation. Sure, you can record the NCAA Tournament and watch it when you want. But it's not the same.

-A SUDDEN DEEP CARING: You will find yourself pulling for schools you never heard of or even know their location as you pray for a buzzer beater. And remember, at least one of the top four seeds has lost in the first round in 14 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments. Those are not plot devices to keep you watching. That is real.

-NEW HEROES: You will find yourself pulling, not for your favorite player or that disgusting word "brand," but for players you also have never heard of. So it doesn't matter if they just exited the portal to their fourth school in three years.  

-ANOTHER "NEW" TIE: It's an old present, but sometimes those ties are good at Christmas. The March Madness version of the tie is learning again where the hell truTV is on your channel list. And, true or false? Am I the only one who rediscovers truTV every March, then completely dismisses it the other 11 months of the year? Like wearing that new tie a few times, then discarding it by Valentine's Day. When truTV doesn't air the NCAA Tournament, it features shows like, "Reduce Swelling In Your Legs, Ankles And Feet." Of course, that may come in handy after sofa watching basketball for the next three weeks.

READ: Your NCAA Tournament Men And Women TV Guide

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo shows his March Madness face. (Getty Images)

It all starts at 12:15 p.m. eastern time today on CBS from Charlotte, North Carolina, as No. 8 seed Mississippi State (21-13) meets No. 9 Michigan State (19-14) with iconic coach Tom Izzo in his record 26th straight NCAA Tournament and going for a ninth Final Four. Say "Lunch Break" real fast and loud, and tell me it doesn't sound like Road Trip! And this can be just as much fun.

I was so excited looking at the schedule the other day for OutKick's TV guide tournament feature above that I overlooked that game and listed No. 6 seed BYU (23-10) vs. No. 11 Duquesne (24-11) as the opener (12:40 p.m. truTV). Sorry, CBS. I regret the error, particularly because you helped make this March Madness monstrosity after ESPN started it all. Duquesne is in Pittsburgh, by the way, and the Dukes are in their first NCAA Tournament since 1977 with Norm Nixon of Los Angeles Lakers fame.

Kentucky In Its NCAA Tournament Record 61st Dance

No. 2 seed Kentucky (23-9) plays No. 15 Oakland (23-11) at 7:10 p.m. in CBS prime time. The Wildcats are in their 61st NCAA Tournament appearance - more than any program. Oakland is in its fourth.

The Upset Special is also in prime time at 7:25 p.m. on TBS with No. 12 seed McNeese State (30-3) of ex-LSU coach and NCAA outlaw Willy The Kid Wade holding up No. 5 Gonzaga 25-7 with his portal posse of "Bayou Bandits"

NCAA Tournament - 10 Days Of Basketball Out Of 19

Get ready for 10 wonderful days of basketball, including two four-day weekends, over the next 19 days through the Final Four and national championship game on April 8 in Glendale, Arizona.

But there's something about this first Thursday that makes it the best. It's all new. It's much like the first Thursday of Jazz Fest in New Orleans that also features two four-day weekends in late April and early May. If you're off today, or you brilliantly scheduled your vacation starting now, you're just playing hooky or you're "sick," you are in business. You can actually watch parts of 16 games today and tonight. Now that really is a Sweet 16.

READ: Here is the complete NCAA Tournament schedule for Thursday.

Game No. 16 pits No. 7 seed Washington State (24-9) vs. No. 10 Drake (28-6) at 10:05 p.m. from Omaha, Nebraska, on truTV. Drake is in Des Moines, Iowa, by the way. I don't any of Drake's players, and I don't care. I'll be watching.

Also don't care how much NIL money any player makes. Don't bother me with that today or the next month, thank you.

March Madness Is Relevant And Old School

As much as college football has been changing by the day with conference realignment, lawsuits seemingly every other week either against the NCAA, or lately vs. the ACC despite Clemson and Florida signing those media rights, Dartmouth's basketball team trying to unionize, dozens of NIL Congressional hearings that accomplish nothing, the NCAA Tournament just keeps rolling along with basically the same format since 1985.

And believe me, those Dartmouth kids who are either on academic scholarship or have rich parents - or both - would trade in their supposed union cards and 6-21 record for a ticket to The Dance any day. Norma Rae starts a union. Not an Ivy League kid.  

What other postseason format has three levels with such iconic and not-forced or reaching nicknames - Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four? (Getty Images)

So, happy 40th anniversary, 64-team-field NCAA Tournament. How many things are still cool and relevant that started in 1985. Not most of you 40-year-olds.

March Madness Changes Would Be Mad

Sometimes, it's good to stick with something whether it's old or not. Change for the sake of change, even if it's called "progressive," too often does not work. And when it does, it is frequently one step forward, two back.

READ: Why The NCAA Tournament Is Perfect

Some have talked about letting everybody into the NCAA Tournament or expanding it to 80. No, 1,000 times no. It's perfect the way it is. The current format usually has just enough upsets, Cinderellas and Blue Bloods. Don't mess with it, or you'll mess it up. 

Yeah, they went to a First Four of four play-in games in 2011 that start on the Tuesday of March Madness week for a 68-team field. But that's really just an appetizer. The steak is usually the 64.

The NCAA Tournament doesn't really start on Tuesday.

It starts today. And it can't get any better.

Should I spell it out for you?

N-C-A-A-T - Nothing Changes And Always Terrific.