Certainly you remember The Basketball Tournament, a clever concept that got started last year and just seemed destined to stick. How many times do we see a college team come together to make a run and then lose a piece or multiple pieces and never look the same as it did during that one week or one month when it captured our imagination? How often does a team miss its window because of an injury, graduation, a coaching change or the NBA? How frequently do we wish we could see our favorite teams or players come together one more time?

TBT is the stage for those previously unthinkable roundball reunions, and it’s back again this year with more hype, more credibility and a prize twice as large.

The field is immense this year. Personally, I’m most excited that Florida Gulf Coast is represented, because I couldn’t get enough of its act in 2013 and I was so sad to see it go. Dunk City is actually only a part of one team, having joined up with similarly inspiring Mercer, which of course Nae Nae’d Duke in 2014. Together they’re called the Bracket Busters, and they should be safely included in the field.

FGCU boasts Parkersburg’s Chase Fieler. More West Virginia connections? Absolutely. Dalton Pepper is on a Temple alumni team that needs votes to get into the top 18 in it region. Truck Bryant and Kevin Jones are on a roster with former New York City stars.