Are Mainers more pumped up for March Madness on the court or ice?

Counting the remainder of today, about three and a half days remain in February. The madness is almost upon us.

For my money, the NCAA Basketball Tournament is the best sporting event this country puts forth. That first Thursday and Friday is as good as sports viewing gets with games tipping off every 30 to 45 minutes and brackets getting busted left and right.

But thanks to the resurgence of Maine hockey, March Madness is just one of a couple tournaments we have to keep our eye on next month.

Maine men's hockey is the No. 5 ranked team in the country, fourth overall in the Pairwise, and have been at or around that position for basically the entire year to this point.

The Black Bears are 19-6-5, 2nd in Hockey East, and according to current projections are in solid positioning for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. We all got a long overdue taste of postseason hockey again last season, and now us Mainers are hungry to see the Black Bears progress through the tournament.

With the state currently consumed by the High School Basketball Tournament, I have complete comfort in calling Maine a basketball state through and through. Yet, the most popular sports team from the Pine Tree State is undeniably Black Bears men's ice hockey.

March will bring the best of both worlds for sports fans in this region, but tell us which tournament has you more fired up the closer we get...