Prior to the NCAA tournament, I was interviewed by my Sports Buff/World Fantasy Games/Rapid Draft buddy Matt Schauf about fantasy college hoops. At that time, I said it was probably my favorite fantasy sport, but that was somewhat due to the fact that I have logged the most time at it in the past few years. Now that I’ve had more time to think about it, I think I agree with myself of a few months ago, but for slightly different reasons. I think fantasy college basketball compares favorably to football, baseball and basketball with some bonuses. With all due respect to other niche fantasy sports (like hockey, college football, NASCAR, and golf) that I don’t play, I’d like to compare fantasy college basketball, my sport, to the big three.

As anyone who knows anything about fantasy sports knows, fantasy football is king. It generates the most writing, the most playing, and is most integrated with the NFL. No other sport that I can think of has embraced fantasy like the NFL and the networks commonly air “fantasy leaders” (even though they generally put passer completion percentage as one of the stats and I’ve yet to see a fantasy league with that stat.) I enjoy fantasy football for what it is, and that  is 75 percent luck. Trying to predict who will score touchdowns in any particular week is like trying to figure out who is going to hit a homer in particular game. Well, it’s not quite that bad, but fantasy football is more akin to gambling than any other fantasy sport. Yes, there are degrees of luck in every other game, but not as much as football. I think that’s one of the reasons that it is so popular. Anyone can win and because the player pool isn’t particularly deep, you don’t have to spend hours tending your garden. Fantasy college basketball’s head-to-head style of play is similar to fantasy football, but there isn’t a similar reliance on one stat so things are evened out. I should probably note that I have never won a fantasy football league (although last year I had a team that scored 200 more points than any opponent in the regular season, then pooped out in the fantasy championship. A bad beat, just like poker, another form of gambling).

Fantasy baseball is in many ways the opposite of fantasy football. Fantasy baseball teams require daily maintenance, the season is long, and the player pools (especially those in individual leagues – AL- and NL-only) are deep. Because of these reasons I think fantasy baseball fans are most likely to enjoy fantasy college basketball. There is also much more strategy to fantasy baseball than football because there are generally eight or ten statistical categories in which each player can contribute to half and most leagues aren’t head-to-head where luck is a prevailing factor. If you want to win, you’re going to have battle throughout the season. There are also many ways to form your team into a winner. I prefer big bats, middle relief, and a small starting pitching crew. Baseball is also a number lover’s dream sport because almost everything can be quantified. Fantasy baseball was the first fantasy game I played and in many ways it is the best. I have a few problems with it: a couple of minor quibbles and one major personal problem. A minor problem is that you have to balance hitting and pitching.  I also don’t like some of the statistics used, especially steals, saves, and wins. The first two stats because they are dominated by specialists who often don’t help in other categories; and wins because it is a silly statistic that has little to do with how a pitcher actually pitched. My major problem with fantasy baseball is that I don’t like to watch baseball. It’s too slow and there is way too much time for the announcers to talk mindlessly.

Part of the problem with discussing fantasy college and pro basketball is that people feel like they have to take sides. I used to prefer the NBA because I watched 75 Milwaukee Bucks games a year (and after that punishment, I still came back for more). These days I watch much more college basketball and prefer it somewhat because teams employ varied styles, which is certainly a difference from the NBA (plus, the games are shorter). It’s hard to go wrong with NBA players, however, and I like both sports very much. I even like their fantasy games almost equally. Fantasy basketball combines some of the best parts of football (somewhat relaxed schedule) and baseball (especially non head-to-head leagues). Fantasy basketball one ups baseball in that each player is rated on the same eight or nine categories, so the best players can contribute mightily in some areas and won’t hurt you in others. No single player will dominate every category. This leads to more interesting trades and a wide variety of strategies.

Finally, we have fantasy college basketball. It suffers because it is the most loosely defined, but that can also be an advantage. If you don’t like the settings of one league, you can hop to another one that is more your style – or create your own. Like fantasy football, fantasy college basketball uses head-to-head games which can lead to wackiness (an 18-seed won the Big Chief Challenge last year). Like fantasy baseball, the player pool is generally very deep, especially if you are one of those nuts like me who is in a league or two that uses the entire Division 1 (340+ teams). Like fantasy basketball, each player is rated by the same set of categories. No player will dominate rebounds and assists. Even in points leagues like fantasycollegehoops.com and the James River Gang, there are many strategies to follow to win (although being lucky doesn’t hurt here either). In all of its forms, fantasy college basketball is a deep, vibrant, and - most of all - fun game to play.