Conference tournament play is what makes college basketball awesome.

Especially in one-bid leagues, seeing two teams go all-out, knowing a loss ends their season but a win takes them to March Madness.

The atmosphere, the pressure, the play level, it’s fantastic and something to be enjoyed in the next couple of weeks. Especially because, come tournament time, conferences will often root for each other.

Atlantic 10 fan bases are notorious for supporting one another in the Big Dance. It boosts the perception of the league.

But during conference tournament play, teams and fan bases waste no time tyring to beat up on one another. Rivalries are what make sports fun and the continued and intrinsic rivalries in college are what make collegiate athletics so great.

I SAID I’d hold off on NFL talk until the Draft unless something truly major happened. Well, ask and one shall receive, I suppose.

First, let’s talk about the trades.

After months of speculation, Aaron Rodgers was not traded and didn’t retire. Instead, he will be staying in Green Bay and, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, will sign a four-year, $200 million contract with a whopping $153 million guaranteed. That deal would make Rodgers the highest paid player in NFL history.

The only snag, it seems, is that Rodgers himself took to Twitter to deny that he had signed the deal and the reported terms of the deal. Although he did confirm that he would be staying in Wisconsin. The Packers are also expected to franchise tag Davante Adams.

Is that much money worth it?

On one hand, Rodgers hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 2010 and hasn’t gotten back there since. On the other hand, he’s played at an elite level for the last three years and Jordan Love doesn’t look ready yet. And, so long as they have Rodgers, the Packers are still a contending team.

While the Broncos were rumored to be after Rodgers, they instead traded for another MVP-caliber QB, Russell Wilson.

Denver picked up Wilson in a huge trade with Seattle. They sent two firsts, two seconds, a fifth and three players; QB Drew Lock, DL Shelby Harris and TE Noah Fant. Seattle will also send a fourth rounder to the Broncos, along with Wilson, of course.

It’s a hefty price to pay for a player coming off of injury. And yet, on paper at least, the Broncos seem playoff-bound and ready to tangle with the Chiefs. Kansas City has beaten Denver the last 13 times the two have played. No doubt those in the Mile High City want to change that.

Wilson is only 33-years old and right in the prime of his career. With weapons on the outside like Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick and Courtland Sutton, as well as a strong defense, the Broncos should have the makings of a deep playoff run come next season.

RODGERS AND WILSON weren’t the only major NFL news, though. The league suspended Falcons wideout Calvin Ridley for gambling on NFL games. I won’t get too deep into the details of the gambling or the league’s punishmen,t but the whole situation just feels like a minefield to me.

The late NBA commissioner David Stern once said, “Over my dead body,” in regards to an NBA team being in Las Vegas. Now?

Today, there is an NFL, NHL and WNBA team in Sin City and the Oakland A’s seem destined to make a move. With sports gambling becoming legalized all over the country, sports organizations are partnering with sports books in droves, trying to capitalize on new revenue streams.

But let’s not forget, the NFL has endorsed gambling for decades.

Fantasy football is so popular that ESPN, NFL Network and Fox Sports have dedicated shows to the game. There are fantasy football leagues with thousands of dollars and precious memorabilia on the line. All of that is based solely on how players play in a game.

How is anyone supposed to stop a friend of a player asking them to have a great game or bad night in order to win in fantasy?

Imagine a cornerback happens to slip while covering a big-name receiver, who then turns a short catch into a long gain. Was that just football, or work being done to impact the outcome of fantasy football? Which is basically gambling based upon how well players play. To suggest that NFL players don’t play fantasy football seems ludicrous.

I’m not suggesting this is an easy issue.

Preventing players from betting on their team to win seems inane. But, if players are betting large sums of money and dictating their play to a bet or a friend’s wager, that can’t be allowed to stand. It’s an issue that isn’t new and the NFL has no credible defense against — they were the ones who signed with a dozen gambling partners.