With the heat and humidity again threatening to turn us all into puddles of sweat Wednesday afternoon, ESPN.com delivered a breath of fresh, cool early spring air.
It unveiled its first 2016 NCAA tournament bracketology bracket. Who knew Joe Lunardi was both Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny for those rare souls who prefer the perfect bounce of a basketball to the imperfect bounces of that oblong pigskin?
Yet what Lunardi's brackets revealed 225 days from the opening tip of March Madness was enough to make any self-respecting University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball fan as hot as August under the collar.
Turns out Joey Brackets' lone Southern Conference representative at the moment isn't UTC, but defending champ Wofford, which Lunardi awarded a No. 14 seed in the East Regional.
That's the same Wofford, by the way, which lost both SoCon player of the year Karl "Microwave" Cochran - who scored 27 points in the second half against the Mocs at McKenzie Arena last January - and SoCon tournament MVP Lee Skinner to graduation.
That's the same Wofford that lost at home to a less experienced UTC team last February.
Yet Lunardi picked the Terriers to return to the Big Dance 224 days from today, which is apparently just fine with new Mocs coach Matt McCall.
"I haven't seen it yet, and I doubt our players have, either," McCall said. "But I understand why Wofford would be picked, and deservedly so. They've represented the league the last two years (and four of the last six total), so it's not hard to see why they were picked again. Besides, if we're upset about something like that, we've got a lot bigger problems to worry about."
But McCall also knows how little any preseason prediction really means.
"When I was an assistant at Florida last year, we were a preseason top-10 team," he said. "We weren't close to a top-10 team all year."
Indeed, after reaching the Final Four the previous year, last year's Gators finished with a losing record.
And despite Lunardi reaching legendary status for his ability to predict the annual 68-team field - he correctly picked all 65 teams in the 2008 tournament and all 68 in the 2013 bracket - he would appear to be a tad bit shaky on at least a couple of hunches this time around.
Especially regarding Arkansas, which he currently has as a No. 12 seed in the Midwest. There are more than a few folks in Razorbacks country who believe the Hogs might struggle to finish higher than 12th in the Southeastern Conference after Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls left to pursue professional basketball and off-the-court incidents plagued the team thereafter.
His early No. 1 seeds - Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and North Carolina - seem about right, but if the NCAA should rule UK's Skal Labissiere ineligible over prep school issues, the Cats could quickly go from a No. 1 seed to a No. 9.
Beyond that, with its second straight No. 1 recruiting class set to arrive and at least a handful of key holdovers from its NCAA title team, shouldn't Duke receive a No. 1 seed instead of anyone on that top line (with the exception of probable preseason No. 1 North Carolina)?
The Blue Devils are about to become the collegiate version of the Golden State Warriors, a 3-point shooting (and making) juggernaut, only with more aggressive defense.
Yet other than the odd inclusion of Arkansas, most of the other arguments are style over substance.
Not so with Wofford-UTC. Thanks to former coach Will Wade leaving McCall a roster filled with five seniors and five juniors - including potential SoCon player of the year candidates in senior wing Casey Jones and redshirt junior forward Justin Tuoyo, plus 3-point demon Eric Robertson and steady guard Greg Pryor - the Mocs just might have their best team since the 1996-97 crew that reached the Sweet 16.
And while both East Tennessee State and Mercer could prove difficult within the SoCon, UTC should still be the favorite to not only win the league, but perhaps claim a game in the NCAA tourney if the Mocs can earn a decent seed.
"I feel great," McCall said. "We've had an opportunity to work two hours a week with our guys. I really like our chemistry. They genuinely care for each other, which is rare."
The one thing he hasn't liked has been having to say no to longtime friends in the coaching profession who wanted to join his staff.
"So many friends have called wanting a job," he said. "But you can't hire everyone."
However, you could surmise from those conversations, whether Lunardi recognizes it or not, that there are plenty of coaches out there hoping to ride the coattails of a future star on his way to the NCAA tournament in his first year as a head coach.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.