I'm sitting in my hotel room in St. Louis right now, getting ready to cover Game 3 of the World Series tonight and planning out my next two weeks of college sports coverage, and it just dawned on me that the college basketball season tips off next week.

MSU begins exhibition play next Wednesday with a game in Grand Rapids against Grand Valley State. Michigan starts a day later at home against Wayne State. Both teams open the regular season the following week. MSU plays in the Coaches 2K Cancer Classic Nov. 8 and 9, and the Wolverines host Central Connecticut State Nov. 10.

"I'm amazed," MSU coach Tom Izzo said last week. "We used to have five weeks of practice by the first exhibition, then it went to four. Now all of a sudden it's two. And this is not a good year for that to happen since we have so many (new) kids."

He's telling me. I love college basketball as much anyone and more than most, but this season has snuck up on me. Unfortunately, the sport doesn't allow for the buildup that college football does, and that's especially true in Michigan this year. The Wolverines are national championship contenders on the gridiron and there's still a little baseball being played.

But college basketball provides us with tons of early marquee games, and this year will be no exception. MSU's schedule is dumbed down a little, but the Spartans still play Texas and possibly Maryland before Thanksgiving. Yikes. Michigan has typically gone the Charmin route, but the Wolverines have two huge December games at UCLA and home against Georgetown. And nationally, Indiana-Duke, Kentucky-North Carolina and Kansas-Florida all make their way onto our TV sets before Christmas.

There aren't many sports that rival college hoops for its pageantry, excitement and history. Unfortunately, there aren't many sports may can stay under the radar this close to the season, either.

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