Despite college basketball now being over – by the way, I had Maryland winning in my pool – there is still some mad excitement in sports and a reason to stay focused on your favorite sports program or Web site.

It’s the time of year when you shift your focus from college basketball to something a little different. It’s a time of pure craziness and sheer excitement.

You probably think I’m talking about the opening of the baseball season, but I’m not. Baseball pretty much sucks until the end of the season, except of course for the Cubs, who when viewed along with drinking a tall can of Old Style beer, can put a smile on your face any time.

I’m talking about the NBA and the curtail games leading up to the playoffs. A few weeks back I talked about the madness in the Western Conference, and why the Lakers are going to have to play great basketball if they want to three-peat.

Now it’s time to talk about the Eastern Conference. Though it doesn’t have the dominant teams that the West has, it still has a tendency to get exciting about this time of year.

The big story of the season has been the East-leading New Jersey Nets, who after numerous dismal seasons, brought in Jason Kidd in the off-season and put together a nucleus good enough to earn them the title of best team in the East.

Kidd has my vote for MVP of the season because of the way he has single-handedly turned this team around and made players such as Kenyon Martin and rookie Richard Jefferson better players.

He is just under three rebounds shy of averaging a triple-double for the season as he dishes out 10 assists per game and scores nearly 15 points.

But the Nets have cooled down lately, and a few other teams are beginning to make some waves in the East.

Those who haven’t been following this race very closely would probably say that the Milwaukee Bucks are the Nets’ biggest threat, but this team is struggling, currently riding a three-game losing streak while trying to hold on to the seventh spot (eight teams make it) in the East.

Perhaps one of the hottest teams in the East at the present moment is the Detroit Pistons, who hold the second-best record and have won three straight games and 22 of their last 30.

The biggest spark on the team, big man Ben Wallace, has been playing some of the most explosive basketball in the entire league over the last month, rebounding ferociously and playing high-caliber defense. He leads the Pistons in rebounding, steals and shot blocks.

With players such as Jerry Stackhouse, Corliss Williamson and Clifford Robinson all playing good basketball, the Pistons are looking to restore some tradition from the Isiah Thomas days.

Other hot teams in the East that are worth keeping an eye out for are the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics.

With two all-stars in Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker playing well together, the Celtics will be very dangerous.

The Philadelphia 76ers are hurting with Allen Iverson out of the lineup, but if the team can hold on until the playoffs (they currently hold the fifth spot), Iverson is slated to return, which is always a positive for Philadelphia.

The Charlotte Hornets are an interesting team that will most likely make the playoffs in the six or seven spot.

The team, in the midst of a possible move to New Orleans in the off-season, has the lowest attendance in the NBA and is actually playing better ball on the road.

The Indiana Pacers, who don former ISU star Jamaal Tinsley as the starting point guard, are desperately holding on to the last spot in the East.

But the team hasn’t been playing well, and lingering right behind are the Toronto Raptors, winners of five straight without superstar Vince Carter.

Right behind the Raptors are the Washington Wizards, who with an injury-plagued Michael Jordan out for the rest of the season, can’t seem to get the victories they need to make up any ground.

From top to bottom, the East is an intriguing conference. Even though no matter who wins the East will lose badly in the finals against the West, the games have to be played and TV has to show them, so we might as well watch them and know what’s going on.

Kyle Moss is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale. He is disappointed the Knicks won’t make the playoffs.