I don’t know what’s worse, having to watch Ryan Pontbriand snap a football on Sunday’s or waiting for the NBA lockout to end. Well, on this day I am rejoicing because the NBA is back and Ryan Pontbriand has been cut by the Cleveland Browns.

The NBA lockout started July 1 and finally an agreement was reached between owners and players on Nov. 26. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well during that time period.

Just the thought of having to solely depend on college basketball for an entire basketball season made me want to throw up. Sure, I love my Cleveland State Vikings, but they are not even comparable to the love I have for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Watching college basketball is like watching AA baseball. It’s just not the same as the pros. The NCAA tournament is one of the best times of the year for me, but the regular season in college basketball is virtually meaningless, especially for teams in small conferences. These conferences only get one bid into the tournament and that bid solely depends on if they win their conference tournament.

Big programs such as Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky couldn’t care less about the regular season. They just want to stay healthy and improve as the year goes on. As long as you are in the tournament, you’re good. There is no home court advantage and often higher seeds get worse draws than lower seeds (just ask Pittsburgh, who lost to Butler in the second round in 2011). Any team can have one bad game and their season is thrown out the window. A seven game series is the only good way to determine who has the better team when it comes to basketball.

The main reason that I prefer professional basketball is the talent level and how the game is played. When people say that college basketball is played the “right way,” it’s just because they don’t like the flashiness of the NBA. How can playing the “right way” make your style of play far superior to how the game is played in the NBA?

The NBA is a fast-paced game due to the 24-second shot clock and it is more exciting to watch. The players are far more talented in every aspect of the game. That includes DEFENSE. Yes, I said it. NBA players try just as hard as college players on defense, it’s just harder to stop a 6’8″ small forward who can shoot and jump out of the gym rather than defend against a 6’5″ center which you will often find in college.

I am rejoicing that I will hear people talk about the NBA soon rather than how Duke played last night. It seems to me that everyone on Ashland’s campus is a “Dukie.” Congrats. You root for the best college basketball program year in and year out, which is located in North Carolina. We live in Ohio, people.

What really irks me is that none of these fans are Duke football fans, only basketball. When you pick a college team to root for, root for them in all sports. I am a Cleveland State fan which doesn’t have a football team, so I root for Ohio State to win because I am from OHIO, but I don’t go around bragging about whether they win or lose.

The beauty of the NBA is that you root for one team and one team only. Rooting for Ohio State and Duke would be the same thing as rooting for the Lakers and the Celtics. It just doesn’t happen. You pick a city and a team and you stick to rooting for that team.

I’ve been to tournament games in college and I’ve also been to playoff games in the NBA. No basketball experience even compares to an NBA playoff game. Watching the best players in the world go at it in their hometown team’s arena trumps any college tournament game because of home court advantage. One city united to do one thing: win.

I realize that many people will argue that colleges do the same thing when they unite for the purpose of winning, but it’s just not the same as a professional championship. The NCAA tournament is more about the journey of getting to the Final Four than it is about the actual championship.

The NBA is often looked down upon because of a false image that people portray it as, but I know one thing, when the season finally tips off on Christmas day, I and all true basketball fans will be watching with their eyes glued to the television to see the NBA keep adding to its rich history.