There are a lot of inherent perks of being an internet sportswriter (if that's what you would call me):

I get to work from home.

I get to occasionally work in my underwear.

I don't have to ask the warden to use the bathroom. Oh wait, that's one of the inherent perks of not being in prison. Never mind.

Anyway, I know I'm one of the lucky few, and fortunate that I get to do what I love, from the comfort of my home, while many others are behind a desk, in an office all day, every day.

So today, I decided to give back to all of you out there. All of you who "work hard," at "real jobs," where you're forced by the man to wear "pants." I decided to give back by running a live blog starting at 12 p.m. of today's Big East Tournament quarterfinal afternoon games between Syracuse and Georgetown and Villanova and Marquette immediately following.

For those of you at work, please stop by, and refresh the page as often as you please. I'll be updating the commentary as quickly as possible, with no scripting, editing or revising. I just hope my six-year-old laptop doesn't burst into flames by 4:30 p.m.

Hope you enjoy.

For the last few weeks, all the talk in the entertainment world has been on the Oscar's: What's the best picture? Who's the best actor? How much work has Sandra Bullock had done on her face? Sunday night we got all the answers.

But with the Academy Awards now behind us, a new awards season is set to begin, this one, with a one person committee (put together by me), ready to name college basketball's greatest achievements during the 2010 season.

The selections weren't easy, and actually quite taxing at times. But after a lot of late hours in front of the projector, some under the table politicking, and a whole lot of palm greasing, we've got our winners.

That's right, the Academy has spoken, and they're ready to present the 1st Annual AT Awards for College Basketball Excellence.

(Important note: Aaron will be at the Big East Tournament Wednesday, tweeting all his thoughts live as they happen. Add him on Twitter by clicking here or going to Twitter.com/Aaron_Torres)

The old saying, "Time heals all wounds," has never been more true than this college basketball season.

Back in December I whined and moaned to anyone who would listen (mainly my dog, who then licked himself and went back to sleep), that this was the least inspiring group of teams, coaches and players that I could ever remember watching in college basketball. And it still might be.

But with Championship Week upon us and Selection Sunday only nine days away, I'm still more than ready to throw myself into March Madness. The teams, the upsets, the 5'9 3-point shooting white guys, everything. Bring it on.

Before we get to the NCAA Tournament though, there's still a lot to be decided, and a lot of questions that need answering.

Here are 20 of those most pressing questions:

On Thursday, I went ahead and named the first half of his list of the 40 Most Valuable Players In College Basketball. We laughed, we cried, and ultimately it was a fun experience for both me the writer, and the readers too. Unless you're a fan of the Pac-10. Then you probably just wanted to drown yourself in the bathtub.

For those of you who missed players No. 40-21, click here.

Today, it's time to reveal No.'s 20-1.

But before we go any further, let me clarify some things.

In that first list, I explained how a friend and I came up with the idea for this list, and how I've gone about determining "value." For those of you who missed it, let's go through again:

1. Competition Matters: My buddy Steve said it best the other day, when he mentioned, "AT I watched Northern Iowa last week, it was a joke. It was a bunch of pale 6'3 jump shooters running around like chickens with their heads cut off. UConn would beat them by 50. And they're ranked No. 22 in the country! What a joke."

While Northern Iowa fans might disagree with Steve, his point is clear: It's harder to get 21 points and 10 rebounds a night in the Big East than it is in the MEAC or America East. Sorry it's just true.

2. NBA Draft Positioning Does Not Matter: This isn't a list of who the best pure basketball talents are, or what a guy might be like in 10 years. It's based on what they're they're doing right now.

For example, Derrick Favors might be the second overall pick in the next NBA Draft. He's dripping with potential, the way that Gary Williams undershirt is dripping with sweat after games. But Georgia Tech is also 18-9 , and 6-7 in the ACC. Would they really be that much better without him? I don't think so.

3. If Your Team Stinks, Your Value Suffers: It's great that you're getting your 20 and 10 every night, seriously I'm happy for you. But if your team is 10-20, how important is what you're doing?

4. How Replaceable Are Your Stats: As an example, I've seen Pitt a bunch of times this year. I like them as a team, and I like Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker, Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown as players. But if you replaced any of them with the next guy off the bench, would Pitt's record be much different? I'm not so sure it would be.

5. While Stats Do Matter, This Is A List of Value. In Other Words, How Replaceable Is What You Do?: Again, let me give you another example.

Say you took a hardcore NBA fan that's never seen a Kansas game the entire season. If you showed them the stat sheet, Sherron Collins and Xavier Henry aren't really all that different. They get basically the same points, Henry grabs a few more boards and Collins dishes out a few more assists. How could someone who's never seen Kansas play, definitively say that one is better than the other?

Now, take that same logic, and ask a Kansas fan. While they might give up their right foot to keep Henry on the court, they'd give up their first born child to keep Collins. Big difference.


And with that, let's get to the second half of the list. As always, we couldn't include everybody, but feel free to voice your opinion on who's ranked properly, and who needs to be moved.

I just hope you guys enjoy this list, as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

The idea for this list actually started in a PoliSci class five years ago.

It was the start of the second semester of my sophomore year of college, and my buddy John and I were sitting there listening to some old professor with a monocle talk about Voltaire, the Russian Revolution or something political. I think.

Needless to say, we were bored. Really bored. So John says to me, "Let's make a list. Top 50 college basketball players. At the end of class we'll compare the list." So we did.

I don't remember much about that first list five years ago (I think Chris Paul ended up No. 1. I think), other than that when I handed it John, he skimmed it up and down, got somewhere near the middle to late 30's, and said, "Who the hell is Jordan Farmar???" Much like the Masters, a tradition unlike any other was born that day.

After that, for the rest of college, John and I did these lists constantly, three, four times a year, tweaking them like the original Bill of Rights. Then we got out of college, John got some job, doing something, and he left it up to me to carry the torch. Which is exactly what I'm doing now.

Over the last two days, I've tweaked John's and my original idea, and put together a list of what I consider to be the 40 "Most Valuable" Players In College Basketball. Unlike the original lists, this isn't just a list of the "best," players, because the "best," is simply too arbitrary and objective, like trying to argue who the "hottest," Sports Illustrated swimsuit model is. Why even bother.

Instead, these are the 40 most "valuable." In other words, say in 20 years you were writing the story about the 2010 college basketball season. Who would you have to discuss, in what order and why. That's what I tried to do here.

Along with those parameters, I tried to set up some other rules to try and establish "value," and help figure out what it actually is...

During this past college football season, I started a weekly segment on this website called, "20 Thoughts From Another Saturday On My Couch." The write-up wasn't so much an analysis of what had happened over the weekend, as much as shop talk about the botched snaps, goofy haircuts and awful announcing that went on across college football, with a little serious pigskin chatter mixed in.

With college basketball season now in full swing, I've decided to bring back "20 Thoughts," with a roundball twist. Again if you're looking for detailed analytical breakdowns of the 1-3-1 zone or Kansas' half court offense, you'll be sorely disappointed. But if you want a rundown of the weekend's dumbest quotes and stupidest coaching mistakes with just a hint of occasional seriousness, well, enjoy.

Let's start with UConn's upset over previous No. 1 Texas...

It’s hard to believe that we’re already 10 weeks into the college basketball season, and I’ve still yet to do a College Basketball Power Rankings.

It’s a terrible, inexcusable oversight on my part, and like Tiger Woods, I’m blaming my sex addiction for the hold up. Luckily, I’ve gone through a 28 day program, and my doctor's have cleared me.

So without any hesitation, here is the first, but most certainly not the last, College Basketball Power Rankings of 2010.

Enjoy!