The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament? Is that this week?

I don’t want to sound sarcastic, but I’m just not feeling it this year.

Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina and Michigan State all are No. 1 seeds? Good for them.

Second- and third-round contests — which includes Syracuse, West Virginia, Ohio State and Cincinnati — at the Consol Energy Center in downtown Pittsburgh? How nice.

Maybe it’s because of Pitt’s demise this year, which included a lethargic eight-game losing streak following an 11-1 start.

Then, to make matters worse, after the team responded with a four-game winning streak to gather some momentum in the Big East, Pitt suffered another collapse down the stretch.

No NCAA or even NIT Tournaments this year, just the third-rate CBI Tournament for those not good enough to make the NIT.

So there will be no NCAA tournament for the Panthers for the first time in 11 seasons, but I haven’t been interested in college basketball this year.

There was no juggernaut to watch, even though two of the No. 1 seeds (Kentucky and Syracuse), have only two losses all season.

From what I read, I wasn’t overly impressed with any team this year.

So, I won’t be suffering from a case of March Madness this year. I don’t think I’ll even fill out a bracket or two this year. Call it a March Malaise.

Maybe all the NFL drama, with former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning looking for a new home or the New Orleans Saints and their bounty program, has diverted my attention from college basketball’s glorious time of year.

The heart’s just not into it, but it should be. This time of year is what makes college basketball so exciting.

I love to follow the games, particularly Thursday and Friday, the first two major rounds (thanks to the four play-in games, those are now considered the first-round games). Give me an upset or two the first couple of days, I love it, even if I didn’t pick it. My thinking is everyone probably misfired on that pick, so it all evens out.

Come Thursday and Friday afternoon, I’ll peer in and watch what happens, and maybe a little on Saturday and Sunday, but the later the tournament runs, the less attention I give it.

I’m a sucker for an underdog story and I’ll keep an eye out for that, but little else this year.

I’ll sit this one out this time, thank you, and watch others tear up their brackets, yell at the television and throw an item or two because that No. 11 knocked off the No. 6 and they had that No. 6 going to the Elite 8. The torment that comes with going with your head and not your gut. Classic.

A year away will be good for a little perspective. I’m sure of that. Maybe I’ll miss the action and look forward to next year, when I can plunk down my money and have a real rooting interest in the tournament.

This year, however, if I do watch, I think I’ll just root.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.