No, it’s not. But Conference play is set to kick into high gear, with a few non-BCS type games still to play out. So if you’re getting mad for March Madness do what I do…and pull out your “March Madness 08″ game.

EA’s March Madness game delivers hours of hoops goodness. There are more arenas, the gameplay is smooth, controls respond quickly, and the graphics look good (the players are top-notch and they can move real fast!) – all you have to do is put the thing in and start shooting those 3’s.

I know it’s not the real thing but the New Year is just getting underway and March is still…well, simple math tells you that you’re going to have to hang onto that blank bracket for another two months. Be strong. It will be well worth the wait.

It’s been a busy week in college basketball but I’m still itchin’ to get my March Madness on…aren’t you? As of December 24 here are the AP Top 25:

1 North Carolina
2 Memphis
3 Kansas
4 Washington State
5 UCLA
6 Pittsburgh
7 Michigan State
8 Georgetown
9 Texas
10 Duke
11 Tennessee
12 Marquette
13 Indiana
14 Texas A&M
15 Vanderbilt
16 Butler
17 Arizona
18 Villanova
19 Miami (Fla.)
20 Brigham Young
21 Clemson
22 Mississippi
23 West Virginia
24 Southern California
25 Rhode Island

If you’re having trouble giving college basketball much focus during the holidays, you’re not alone. But let’s set aside the football and the leftover turkey for just a second and get a quick update on the Top 10 teams in the polls.

1. North Carolina: Dominating at 11-0 SU and 8-1 ATS.
2. Memphis: Beat Georgetown 85-71.
3. Kansas: The top team in efficiency; 12-0 SU and 7-3 ATS.
4. Washington State: Even better than expected at 7-4 ATS; tougher competition ahead.
5. UCLA: Climbing back up the polls after that Texas loss.
6. Pittsburgh: Huge non-con OT victory over Duke. Big East will be tough.
7. Michigan State: Could run the Big Ten table, judging by that win over the Longhorns.
8. Georgetown: Two weeks to recover from Memphis before things get interesting.
9. Texas: Still 5-2 ATS and breathing down Kansas’ neck.
10. Duke: No. 2 in efficiency – big things on the horizon.

Eventually, they’ll get around to compiling some kind of comprehensive efficiency rankings for college basketball players. The best we have right now appears to be Dean Oliver’s “Offensive Rating” index. And it should be no surprise that two of this year’s most coveted freshmen lead the way in that category.

Here are the Top 25 in Division I play as of press time, according to kenpom.com.

1. Eric Gordon, Indiana            125.2
2. Kevin Love, UCLA            124.5
3. Louis Dale, Cornell            123.0
4. Jordan Eglseder, Northern Iowa    122.4
5. Stefon Jackson, Texas El Paso        120.8
6. Reggie Williams, Virginia Military Inst    120.7
7. James Harden, Arizona St.        120.7
8. Stephen Curry, Davidson        119.9
9. Matt Kingsley, Stephen F. Austin    119.7
10. Leon Williams, Ohio            119.0
11. Marreese Speights, Florida        118.9
12. Brett Winkelman, North Dakota St.    118.4
13. Courtney Lee, Western Kentucky    118.1
14. Ryan Anderson, California        117.6
15. Lester Hudson, Tennessee Martin    117.1
16. Gary Forbes, Massachusetts        116.3
17. Michael Beasley, Kansas St.        116.0
18. J.J. Hickson, North Carolina St.    115.9
19. David Holston, Chicago St.        115.8
20. Luke Harangody, Notre Dame        115.7
21. Kosta Koufos, Ohio St.            114.9
22. Marqus Blakely, Vermont        114.7
23. Alex Harris, UC Santa Barbara    114.3
24. Arizona Reid, High Point        113.3
25. Aleks Maric, Nebraska            112.8

It’s tough enough being a professional athlete. Your mental attitude has to be strong enough to tap into your physical talents and produce at a high level. Now imagine your father happens to be Michael Jordan. How’s your attitude now?

Jeff Jordan’s must be pretty good. He hasn’t shied away from playing basketball; rather, he’s a freshman at the University of Illinois. That’s about where the comparison to his father ends. Jeff Jordan is a 6-foot-1, 185-pound point guard. A preferred walk-on at Illinois with an academic scholarship, Jordan played just 32 minutes in the first eight games combined, shooting 0-for-7 with one assist and six turnovers.

So how does Jeff Jordan live up to his Dad? He doesn’t try. “By no means in this world can you ever live up to someone else’s expectations of who you are,” Michael Jordan told Matt Lauer last month on the TODAY show. Score another one for MJ.

…and it only took them 38 years. Austin Freeman led the Hoyas with 15 points and No. 5 Georgetown shot 59 percent from the field to win the game 87-55 on Sunday in Washington.

“No matter how teams want to play us, we’re going to be able to be effective — whether that’s slowing the ball down and pounding it in to [All-America center] Roy [Hibbert] or being quick in transition,” said Georgetown guard DaJuan Summers, who scored 14 points. “It’s going to give teams a tough decision on how to play us.”

The first time these two teams met was back in 1969 and that game was cut short by just under three minutes; a punch on the court led to an all-out brawl in the stands. The Hoyas eventually threw in the towel by refusing to come out of the lockerroom, forfeiting the game and the W to Jacksonville (41-26).

The NIT (which does not actually stand for Not In Tournament) has played second fiddle to March Madness for years now. I don’t recall anyone looking for a third fiddle. But we have one anyway courtesy of the Gazelle Group, the same people behind the Coaches vs. Cancer event and the CBE Classic.

The College Basketball Invitational, born just last month, will be a 16-team single elimination tournament. Only teams that don’t go to the big dance will be invited; those who fall off the bubble may find themselves with a choice of postseason tourneys come March.

More games means more opportunities for handicappers – 133 teams will be in one tournament or other. But is there any demand for it when the NIT is a mere blip on the betting radar? “I just don’t know if there’s a market for a third tournament,” Big East commissioner Michael Tranghese told the Associated Press, “but this is the land of opportunity.”