About three weeks ago I would have bet my house that Notre Dame was going to be playing in the National Invitational Tournament.

The Fighting Irish had lost their best player and quite frankly were not playing very good basketball.

But since the loss of Luke Harangody to a bone bruise, Notre Dame has stepped it up and is trying to play its way into the NCAA tourney.

And that is exactly how it ought to be done.

I am not one of those people who enjoy seeing automatic conference bids.

I think everyone should have to play their way into the field.

Why you might ask?

It’s simple, the NCAA tournament field shouldn’t be based on a team lucking out and winning a conference championship from some league we have never heard of.

Teams should be selected based on their entire body of work, not a two- or three-game span.

Too many good teams get left out of the NCAA tournament because others happen to get hot at the right time.

There are too many teams that are around .500 who earn a bid that way, while teams with pretty good records from the similar size conference are left on the outside looking in.

The NCAA Tournament is without a doubt the greatest sporting event on the planet.

There is nothing like it anywhere at any level.

Sixty-five teams start the tournament and within a couple of weekends, they are whittled down to four teams, who have earned the right to compete for the national title.

Along the way there are upsets and fantastic finishes that are rivaled by no other sport or sporting event.

The true emotion that these kids play with is something to behold.

Now don’t misunderstand what I am saying.

I don’t want to see the “power conferences” load up the field.

I want to see both large and small schools from mid-majors and power conference mix it up, but I would rather see a solid team from a mid-major make the field instead of the team that is around .500 that got lucky at the league tournament advance to the field of 64.

What I want is to truly see the best 64 teams make it to the tournament and get the right to play for a national championship.

I would like to see the same thing in football, but that’s another topic for another time.

We are heading down the stretch of the college basketball season and my pulse is starting to beat a little faster as I begin to think about the NCAA Tournament.

I live for the month of March and that tournament. I follow the games on my computer or on television.

The time has come and I am ready. I hope you are too. This could be one of the greatest tournaments ever.

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com