At 7:00 tonight (okay, maybe 7:04), the 2009-10 season gets underway when James Madison plays Ohio State and Georgia State takes on NC State. We officially enter a period of 45 days where we’ll utilize question marks, exclamation points, ellipses, and the random semi-colon. There is a hyphen (or em dash) that will separate the wins from the losses. As we said, there are only nine off days until January.

Since 2005, when we all really got serious about this at large bid nonsense, CAA fans have suffered under the delusion that anything that occurs between January 2 and February 20 (or thereabouts) matters when it comes to said at large bid.

The CAA bell curve, when plotted with RPI the latest stat everyone in the world uses as a measuring stick despite the NCAA saying they are actually de-emphasizing it but we all know better, shows the conference at #8 on a good season, #14 on a bad season, and somewhere in between in most seasons.

For us, the #1 team will be between 14-4 and 16-2 (that’s 23-11 to 25-7 overall) and everybody falls into place from there. I don’t care who you are, banana peel games occur to every team, every season. It’s just the way it happens. Get comfy with it.

Now, this is where yesterday’s comment of four teams in the top 100 preseason RPI the latest stat everyone in the world uses as a measuring stick despite the NCAA saying they are actually de-emphasizing it but we all know better comes into play.

In the CAA, we make our hay in the nonconference portion of the schedule. Or we don’t. (Or, you are the 2007 Drexel Dragons and you make hay but get screwed.)

This year is lining up to have the most important nonconference season in the CAAs 25-year history. It’s that simple.

We’re teetering on the brink of yesterday’s news syndrome. The Mason Final Four run is written in historical terms now, and the important remnants of the VCU win over Duke and near defeat of Pittsburgh–along with the Rams’s Buffalo travel partner, at large bid Old Dominion–are gone. Yesterday.

This year, there are elements. The conference returns a significant number of its stars, minutes, starters, points, rebounds, assists, coaches, leadership, continuity, and goodwill. All of “those ingredients” people will use in March to pick their mid major bracket upsets are in place for somebody in the CAA.

Or two people. (Not four or five, like Feinstein says. And don’t ever give me crap about being a CAA homer again, huh? John Feinstein is the gold standard of our business and that line came out of his mouth. Cut me some slack.)

The bottom of the conference is going to be way better and they will win some games in the noncon. The top has experience and talent, and everyone has scheduled up. The final piece is the opportunity teams have to make that statement we all look back on and say wasn’t made. I cannot remember a season where there’s been so many opportunities for statement wins.

Side note: Don’t panic if there’s a giant CAA Big Game Bagel as we reach Thanksgiving. It only takes a few of these wins, and they can come in December. Patience, grasshopper.

Off the top of my head, the conference gets shots at NC State, Kansas, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Penn State, Villanova, Missouri, Va Tech, and Kentucky. But there’s also Siena, Richmond, St. Josephs, Utah State, Dayton, and any number of comparable mid major teams and Bracketbusters. Note the geography of those games, too. Folks out west get to see the teams as well.

These teams appear on schedules multiple times, too. This isn’t each CAA team gets one or two shots and we’re done. Opportunity exists.

And isn’t that all we’ve ever said we wanted?

This is the year for multiple bids, I’m convinced of that. There are too many good teams, and too many opportunities. There is no stretch scenario to make the argument for two bids. The thing is, my mind is split in half. I can make the argument for one bid just as easily. We don’t have the luxury of an early February upset win when North Carolina is cruising or Villanova is looking past us. The time to get it done begins tonight.

Over the next 45 days, we’re going to find out which half of my brain is correct. It’s going to be a pile of fun.