Even if I didn't work for the big four-letter network whose initials you see up at the top left there, I'd still think Super Tuesday -- the weekly ESPN feast of Big Ten and SEC hoops that you've come to know and love -- was awesome. Do you believe me? I have a feeling, once you see the schedule, that you will.

That's because the schedule is, in fact, awesome. It features eight teams ranked in Andy Katz's preseason poll: No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Michigan State, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 10 Florida, No. 13 Kentucky, No. 15 Illinois, No. 18 Tennessee and No. 25 Georgia. It features eight games between preseason top 25 teams. It has four appearances each from Purdue and Kentucky, and three appearances each from respective conference contenders like Michigan State, Florida, Vanderbilt, Illinois, Ohio State, and Tennessee.

College hoops fans have a saying in the offseason, one that probably does more to increase our hoops-less pain than alleviate it: The season needs to get here now. But it's true. It does.

It's hard to choose highlights out of that list, and there's no telling how many of these teams will be ranked in the top 25 by the end of the season, but here's a few games already piquing my interest:

• Jan 18., 7 p.m. ET, Michigan State at Illinois: It's very difficult to win in Champaign even when Bruce Weber's teams aren't this experienced and talented. Consider it an early-conference proving ground. If Illinois wants to be in the Big Ten's top tier, it has to beat the big boys, and this will be one of its first opportunities to do so.
• Feb. 1, 7 p.m. ET, Purdue at Wisconsin: Similar stakes here. Wisconsin always seems to find a way to hang around the Big Ten's top level. By February, Purdue will be seeking to separate itself from the conference pack. Wisconsin never loses at home. Purdue is ultra-talented. You get the idea.
• Feb. 8, 9 p.m. ET, Tennessee at Kentucky: The rivalry is built-in, but by early February we'll have a chance to see if Kentucky's remade roster is good enough to win another SEC title, or if Tennessee and Florida can, if only briefly, overtake them.
• Feb. 15, 9 p.m. ET, Michigan State at Ohio State: Big Ten title on the line? Perhaps. Ohio State will have incorporated top recruit Jared Sullinger into a veteran mix; Michigan State will be rounding into its Izzo-ian late-season form.

Anyway, those are just a few, and they are subject to debate. What's not is that the college hoops season needs to get here immediately. (I promise I'll stop saying that soon. Maybe in November.)