Good morning, everyone. The sun is rising over our fair land as I write this, and yesterday, the college basketball season officially tipped off, which is a far better indicator of the beginning of autumn than any change in the clocks or weather.

While professional basketball has been underway for weeks, the NBA has increasingly become a league that is focused solely on statements and activism and less focused on the product on the floor. Also, the New Orleans Pelicans continue to blow leads in spectacular fashion, but I promise that really isn’t the point of this. Just a depressing side note.

Anyway, the NBA’s focus on appeasing China and playing at being social activists has been a major distraction for years. The China issue, in particular, has made the league (and some of its stars) susceptible to mass hypocrisy to the point where some of its own players are speaking out.

And to be quite fair, it’s not as though the NCAA is completely out of the social justice scene. There have been the threats of pulling out of states that enact conservative laws and policies, not to mention the bizarre hesitation to let the college kids who make them millions earn an extra buck beyond their scholarships. Hell, I am not a fan of the NCAA as an organization at all.

But man, does basketball just look more fun at the college level.

In particular, No. 10 Kentucky took on No. 9 Duke in the first game of Coach K’s last season at Duke, and it was a spectacular game, despite some serious errors from Kentucky and some sluggish play from guys who by the end of the year will absolutely be dominating teams. Duke looked far better in this game than they looked all year last year, culminating in Duke’s 79-71 victory over the Wildcats.

I will take college football and college basketball 10 times out of 10 over the NFL and NBA, and last night was proof as far as basketball goes. The college football season has been a wild and more exciting ride than the NFL, too. And I don’t have to worry too much about what coaches at these universities are doing outside of the game (which the exception of LSU’s Ed Orgeron), and the players are balancing stellar athleticism with college life so they don’t have that much time to go out and Kaepernick their entire career.

If last night was any indication, it’s going to be an exciting season for college basketball, and a damn sight better than anything the NBA could attempt to win me over with.