Football is over, March Madness can't come soon enough

With football season over and about a month before March Madness begins, it is a bit of a "dead" period in sports.

The NBA is about to hit the All-Star break and the league is just a jumbled mess.

Both of the teams I root for, the Pacers and Houston Rockets, are currently sitting in the ninth spot in their respective conferences, but seemingly playing in two different worlds.

The Pacers are a miserable 20-30, but are only half-game back of the Nets for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, while in the stacked Western Conference, the Rockets are 28-20 and a game back of eighth.

However, if they were to switch conferences with the records they have right now, the Rockets would be fourth in the East and the Pacers would be 11th in the West and 10 games back for the final playoff spot.

The Pacers biggest problems right now are playing poorly at home and giving up way too many points per game. They rank next to last in points per game allowed (105.5) and are 9-14 at Conseco Fieldhouse. Simply put, if they play better at home and improve their defense, they should be able to squeeze into the playoffs, probably to bow out (most likely swept) in the first round.

On the other hand, the Rockets just need to get healthy and everything should be alright. While being a game back of eighth, they are only three games back of the Utah Jazz, who are currently holding the fourth spot.

By no means should either team be given up on by fans because they could easily go on an extended winning streak at any time and greatly improve their positioning.

If nothing else, it will be a decent month of games before March Madness starts.