Finally, it’s the month of March. And with it comes the most exciting time in sports, the “Madness” of college basketball. It is a time when every team starts with its conference tournament with a 0-0 record and is looking for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

And as we know, anything can happen. This is critical for teams such as the Iowa State men, who struggled throughout the regular season, but now they have a clean slate and hopes of a possible upset.

For other teams, like the ISU women, it is time to secure a position in the NCAA and hopefully improve their seed. The women go into the Big 12 games knowing that they have the ability to knock off everyone in the field.

Unlike the men, the Cyclone women don’t have the luxury of being able to sneak up on teams, for they are one of the teams everyone else is gunning for.

Conference tournaments are obviously just preludes to the NCAA or NIT championships. They are good warm-ups for teams that are fortunate to continue playing.

This year, the men of the Big 10 finally began conference tournament play, hoping it will turn around their dismal performances at the Big Dance in recent years.

Conference tournaments prepare teams well for competing at the national level because it puts them in the right frame of mind. It allows players to realize that spectacular performances they may have had earlier in the season don’t matter if they have a single poor performance.

One bad showing ends it all, no matter what.

It takes teams to the next level, both emotionally and physically, perhaps providing that extra lift to fulfill some unattained expectations.

The ISU women have proven they can beat the best teams in the nation, downing five top 25 teams, including No. 6 Texas Tech and No. 12 Alabama. The Cyclones possess the all important equalizer, the ability to sink a three-point shot.

If they are “on,” they will be an incredibly tough team to beat. But as shown in contests against lesser teams such as Missouri, if the women’s shots are “off,” they are vulnerable.

When the threes don’t fall, their lack of size is a detriment. Even though they do get a great deal of production out of their senior post players Janel Grimm and Jayme Olson, both women stand about 6’1″ and sometimes struggle against players who are four to five inches taller.

From the outside, the Cyclones have five players who are deadly. The group includes first team All-Big 12 performer and Newcomer of the Year Stacy Frese and Big 12 Freshman of the Year Megan Taylor. In addition, Erica Haugen, Amanda Bartz and Olson provide long-range firepower.

The Cyclone women led the conference in shooting percentage from behind the arc. Despite the fact opposing teams were aware of ISU’s proficiency from that position on the floor, opponents still couldn’t stop them.

If the women can continue their consistent shooting and do their best on the boards against taller teams, look for them to go quite far in both the conference and the NCAA Tournament.

As far as the men go, they certainly have had their share of problems with injuries, athletes not wanting to transfer and others unable to transfer to ISU. The list of woes seems to go on and on.

One positive aspect for the men is that they have shown glimpses of the talent they possess.

They have quality post players, which have kept the team competitive, but suspect guard play has been the team’s downfall.

Coach Floyd has had to rely on his young guards to go up against some of the top backcourt specialists in the nation, and the ISU guards’ inexperience has shown through.

The bright side is that truly anything can happen in tournament play. If the guys could get hot for four games, they too will be in the tourney field of 64.

The nice thing is that what happened previously in the regular season, means nothing now. It all starts over. We all love to see the underdogs step up.

This would be a perfect time for the men to strike that match and get things rolling.

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Scott Johnson is a senior in liberal studies from Holstein.