A Five-Month Season Boils Down to One.

In recent weeks, as another college football regular season concluded in dramatic fashion and universities once again began to switch conference affiliations, the college basketball season started. The general sports fan could be forgiven for not noticing. College basketball has long been defined by its postseason tournament, the crowd-pleasing spectacle known as March Madness. While the tournament results in millions of people around the country filling out office pools and accounts for roughly 90 percent of the N.C.A.A.'s annual revenue, it has rendered the sport's regular season largely irrelevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]