At this juncture in time, New Jersey Nets Guard Vince Carter, notorious for half-assing most things, is about to begin a monumental tank job. The Jason Kidd trade to the Dallas Mavericks became official this afternoon, thanks to Keith Van Horn who came out of retirement to make 4 million dollars in the next month and then retire again (The NBA…Where Hilarious Happens). As it stands, the Nets are getting back Devin Harris and a sack of manure with some late first round draft picks thrown in. The Mavericks are getting back a great catalyst for the next few months, in the hopes that they’ll win the NBA Title. The hope should be, if you’re Dallas, that Jason Kidd will make Dirk Nowitzki become a better playoff performer, because he’s been about as good as the filler that Dallas sent back to New Jersey in this trade, during his career in the postseason.

For the remainder of this year, Dallas is the clear winner in this trade. The Nets will have to work to make anything of the two first round picks they are getting back, as the Dallas Mavericks don’t tend to have lottery picks. Of course, this isn’t the biggest highway robbery of the past month in the NBA. That goes to the Lakers/Grizzlies trade, where the Lakers sent just the bag of manure and got a better, younger player, than Jason Kidd, in Pau Gasol. I hate to say it, but if Andrew Bynum comes back healthy and Kobe’s finger can stay attached, the Lakers are the favorites in the West. Though I am not giving up hope on my New Orleans Hornets.

This is such a dead zone for sports. The only good spring training baseball story is the prank the Phillies pulled on Kyle Kendrick. Find video of it, it’s fabulous. The NBA season has turned into the Hot Stove Report. The NHL is still the NHL. And, frankly, I write an awful lot about college basketball. With that said….

Here are my top 5 best conferences in Men’s College Basketball:

5. SEC
– In The Tournament: Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State
-Need to Do Work: Kentucky, Florida, Ole Miss, Arkansas
-Will Probably Fire Their Coach: Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia
-Already Fired Their Coach: LSU

Breakdown: The SEC isn’t very good. However, Tennessee is a legitimate Final Four team, which sets it ahead of the Big 10. That pretty much says it all.

4. Big 12
-In The Tournament: Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Kansas State
-Need to Do Work: Baylor, Oklahoma
-Will Probably Fire Their Coach: Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska
-Already Lost Their Coach: Texas Tech

Breakdown: The Big 12 also isn’t very good, though I think Oklahoma should be much better than their current record (5-5; 17-8) indicates. Baylor is a nice story and if they get into the tournament, will be a nice first round elimination for a 7 seed. I really think Kansas is the only Final Four Team in the conference. Texas is too inconsistent and coached by Rick Barnes. Texas A&M is a joke at this point and will be lucky to advance to the Round of 32. Kansas State is the dark horse. If they get a good draw in March, I could see them advancing to the Elite 8. However, a mediocre game by Michael Beasley, and they’re done. I see K-State as the second best team in this conference when the dust settles.

3. ACC
-In The Tournament: Duke, North Carolina, Maryland, Clemson
-Need to Do Work: Wake Forest, Miami
-Will Probably Fire Their Coach: Tyrese Rice University, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Florida State, Georgia Tech

Breakdown: Sadly, no team has fired their coach in the ACC, so the joke couldn’t continue. Look, the ACC isn’t very much better than the Big 12. Duke and North Carolina are better, though, than the top two teams in the Big 12 (Kansas and whomever you’d like). The ACC is also slightly deeper. Wake Forest and Miami will probably make the tournament because the committee needs to pick at least six ACC teams every year no matter what the records are of those teams. Miami is not good. Wake Forest is VERY intriguing, especially after beating Duke on Sunday by having more heart and more bad calls go in their favor (more so the latter). The bottom of this conference, as a side note, is atrocious. You pick a team from that bottom category that is any good.

2. Big East
-In The Tournament: Georgetown, Louisville, UConn, Notre Dame, Marquette, Pittsburgh
-Need to Do Work: West Virginia, Syracuse, Villanova
-Will Probably Fire Their Coach: Seton Hall, South Florida, Saint Johns, Providence, Cincinnati, Rutgers, DePaul

Breakdown: Nine teams in. You have to. I think all three of the “Need Work” teams will make the tournament. Syracuse did well to improve their standing by beating an all-of-a-sudden beatable Georgetown team. The Big East is in this position because it is deep, not because it is top-heavy with talent. I think Louisville is on the rise and, like Kansas State, a potential Elite 8 team, though I’m more skeptical of the ‘Ville because of the presence of turnover-waiting-to-happen Edgar Sosa.

Super, Clear-Cut, NO DOUBT #1. Pac-10
-In The Tournament: UCLA, Washington State, Arizona State, Arizona, Stanford, USC
-Need to Do Work: Oregon, Washington, Cal
-Have Already Fired Their Coach: Oregon State

Breakdown: Don’t worry. I don’t think 9 teams will make the NCAA tournament from the Pac-10. I think that 7 should (who that 7th team is, I don’t know, though I favor the Oregon Ducks despite the fact that they are STRUGGLING). UCLA is top tier. Washington State, Stanford, and USC are very good teams (despite USC’s record, I think they are another sleeper, especially if they can get Daniel Hackett back healthy in time for March). Arizona and Arizona State (two very different teams) can also make runs to at least the Sweet 16. I wouldn’t be surprised if 4 Pac 10 teams make the Elite 8. These teams play marquee games every Thursday and Saturday night (similar format to the tournament). Oregon State is the only bottom feeder (granted, a huge one) in this conference. Not enough people on the east coast pay attention to the Pac-10. Watch, See, Learn. The Pac-10 is the best conference in basketball. HANDS DOWN.

In the course of this post, I’ve ruined a potential column. So with that, here are, with no explanation (for now) my top 5 sleeper tournament teams. These are teams not in the top 10 presently, who I think could make it to the Elite 8. Big 10 teams need not apply. Except for…

-Indiana
-St. Mary’s
-Louisville
-Kansas State
-USC

Game O’ The Day: (sidenote: Watch Davidson play UNC Greensboro on ESPN 2 at 7 p.m. tonight, if only for a few minutes. You’ll be seeing them the first two days of the tournament). Atlanta Hawks @ LA Lakers. This is Mike Bibby’s first game with the Hawks. I think his acquisition makes the Hawks the 3rd best team in the East. Better than Cleveland. They have a great starting 5 and with Acie Law IV, Zaza Pachulia, and Josh Childress coming off the bench they are legit. This is not an NBA Finals preview. It is, however, an intriguing matchup on a lackluster day for good games.

NOTE: I’ve reviewed a few of my posts and have noticed a slue of spelling errors. For this, I apologize. I type freely, rarely looking things up, attempting to post as much information in as little time as possible. I’m like the American Media. I could read these posts before I click the PUBLISH POST button, but I feel like because I’m writing for a very small audience who knows I’m literate, it’s more important that I just get the post published. Again, thanks to you all for reading.