Welcome to the greatest time of the year. The NCAA Tournament is finally here. No other sport spectacle can compare.

Not even the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is a one day event with two weeks of hype.

The NCAA Tournament is four days of bracket predictions followed by three weeks of games.

Which is better? It isn’t even close.

Still don’t believe me, here are 65 reasons to love March Madness. One for each team, done in fellow Daily Illini columnist Mike Szwaja style.

Indianapolis, Chicago, St. Louis … Anticipation of Selection Sunday … Filling out your first bracket … Bill Raftery’s game opening “man-to-man” … Steve Lavin’s hair and commentary … Dee Brown’s orange mouth guard … Finding this years Bryce Drew … 12 seeds over five seeds … Waiting for the first major upset to ruin your bracket …

Nick Smith, he be doing it … Never having to leave the couch Thursday and Friday … Nate Robinson … I told you … Ashley Judd in Kentucky blue … Fourth seed not enough for Indiana despite Mike Davis opinion … One Shining Moment … CBS’s intro song for college basketball games …

Memorizing the seven commercials CBS airs during the tournament by 4 p.m. Thursday … Illinois fast break … Cheering for former Illinois assistant Chris Lowery … Bruce Pearl. Rooting against him. In Chicago at the Sweet Sixteen … Potentially having to cheer for hated rival coach Bo Ryan against Bill Self … Bruce Weber screaming “Move Roger” and “James” …

Twelve passes to set up Dee for three … No BCS … No Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech or Connecticut in Illinois’ bracket … Surprise seeds, right Washington … Staying up till 4 a.m. contemplating if Pennsylvania will beat Boston College …

Pat Forde headbutts … Juan Mendez, the best score you’ve never heard of … Andrew Bogut, the National Player of the Year you’ve never seen … The nation getting to see James Augustine’s progression this year … Tyler Coppenrath … Vermont Coach Tom Brennan’s final game … Dissecting Illinois bracket to see how all 15 teams in it can beat the Illini …

Unpredictable seasons lead to unpredictable tournaments … Watching cheerleaders critique each other’s performances … FDU has a guy named Andre the Giant … Illinois finishes the season No. 1 in the polls … A reason to skip class … A whole day to drink beer before Illinois plays … Illinois orange beer at the Ram Restaurant and Brewery in Indy …

Rick Pitino complaining about Louisville’s seed while the Cardinals are set up for a Final Four run … Waiting to see Illinois guards come out of their shooting funk … The scouting report Southern Illinois can give Illinois on Oklahoma State …

Rooting against the usual tournament suspects … UAB vs. LSU, best game of the first two days …

Pops Mensah-Bonsu … Sub .500 tournament teams … Illinois fans cheering Charlie Villanueva if he faces North Carolina … Four days of argument if Old Dominion is underrated as a 12 seed … Notre Dame being deservedly left out …

The Pit in Albuquerque … Former Kentucky player Travis Ford coaching against his alma mater … West Virginia’s backwoods icon Kevin Pittsnogle …

Playing for Dawn Weber … Patriot League’s Bucknell trying for the league’s first NCAA Tournament win … Salim Stoudamire, shooting star or sulking star …

Rooting for fellow St. Charles graduate Pete Schmit at Northern Iowa … First tip off of the tournament … World’s largest bracket in St. Louis … 65 team field, 60 deserving teams … Putting checks next to your correct picks …

March coming in like a lion and coming out orange and blue in St. Louis.