Normally around this time of year, I’m generally excited. Especially when March Madness hits. If you’re an avid college basketball fan, then you know how exciting this time of year is when it comes to the 65 team field.

Oh. I’ll be watching the big tournament announcement on Selection Sunday complete with No.1 seeds, mid-major sleepers and bubble teams who sneak in. I’ve always enjoyed the tournament. And no. Not for the idiotic pools which all of us are in.

For myself, it’s always been about the basketball played on the court. The wire to wire finishes. Or the glass slipper as CBS’ announcer Gus Johnson likes to say. The buzzer beaters and of course, the big upsets.

Who will rise up? You just never can tell even if so-called experts such as Dick Vitale, Digger Phelps and Billy “Know It All” Packer think they do.

The thing I have always liked about this tournament is the element of surprise. You won’t find one person who gets all 64 games correct. If you do, then God bless them.

So, why am I a little down this year? Because my alma mater St. John’s is once again not part of the most exciting tournament all year.

Norm Roberts’ Red Storm Redmen just completed another embarrassing season finishing a dismal 11-19 with only five wins in the Big East in what was supposed to be the program’s 100th Anniversary of men’s basketball.

Talk about depressing. It’s not so much that they didn’t try. I would never accuse a Roberts coached team of dogging it. It’s just that they’re not that good and can’t beat stiff competition such as Georgetown, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

If you can’t be in the upper echelon of your own conference, there’s virtually no chance of qualifying for any postseason tournament including the NIT which the Johnnies won six years prior over the archrival Hoyas. I remember at the time thinking that they were finally headed in the right direction. Little did I know just how miserable a job former coach Mike Jarvis did. It’s really not worth revisiting.

If you fast forward to the present, St. John’s basketball has become a laughingstock while Georgetown led by John Thompson III (or 300th for all we know) is back as one of the contenders for the national title coming off a Final Four appearance last year.

That just adds to my frustration as a loyal St. John’s fan who graduated with a degree in Sports Management not long ago. How could our basketball program have become so pathetic? Heck. Roberts is getting to coach his final year after finishing eight under .500.

EIGHT UNDER! Can any St. John’s fan imagine a Lou Carnesecca coached team winning just 11 games and getting an okay for the next season? Sure. There aren’t any local kids such as Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson around these days to carry the program back near the pinnacle.

Part of the dilemma is that St. John’s doesn’t have much of an on campus life. Sure. The Queens campus is nice but what about the dorm situation? What about having a state of the art facility complete with a new athletic center?

Isn’t about time Father Harrington faces the facts? Kids today would much rather go away and play on much bigger campuses such as The Dean Dome or The Carrier Dome.

And why wouldn’t they? In front of huge crowds which includes raucous atmospheres along with plenty of parties afterwards.

Why shouldn’t kids get the entire college experience? It’s understood that the draw for St. John’s is playing a few big games at Madison Square Garden. What kid doesn’t love that grand stage? If they just had a bigger venue in Jamaica and more campus life, I’d be willing to bet that more students would choose St. John’s.

I think what’s most disheartening is that the Redmen weren’t even in the top 12 in their conference. Sure. The Big East is extremely tough. Probably the deepest conference from top to bottom. But to not even make essentially a postseason tourney which is played in your backyard over at Seventh and 33rd is downright sad which explains my March Sadness.

I admittedly don’t have as much juice (insert Rocket or Barroids joke here) for this year’s tournament. Oh. Sure. I’ll watch to see who wins. Figure either Georgetown, UConn or Louisville. Maybe even local kid Kyle McAlarney and Fighting Irish big Luke Harangody. 

I excluded Pitt because I just am not a believer in them. It’s not like they ever go very far come March. So if the Panthers happen to this time around, be my guest and rip me.

The real shame is that my school isn’t involved once again. A talented kid by the name of Anthony Mason, Jr. who was named to the Big East All League despite missing eight games won’t get to put his talent on display in front of proud Pop and former Knick Anthony Mason, Sr.

He still went on the average a team best 14.0 points-per-game (PPG) along with 4.4 rebounds. Mason certainly was the Johnnies’ top offensive threat combining solid driving skills with long range shooting. Something which once was an afterthought in Queens. Remember the days of Bootsy Thornton, Ron Artest and Lavor Postell? Erick Barkley and Omar Cook weren’t bad point guards either.

How did the NCAA’s fifth winningest program go from those days when dreams of another Final Four appearance were realistic to just praying the team could remain competitive and be .500?

It better change. Can Mason, Jr. along with solid first-year players Justin Burrell, D.J. Kennedy, Malik Booth and promising sophomore Larry Wright get the program righted next Fall?

It remains to be seen. New Yorkers can only hope especially given what they get to watch on a daily basis.

Let’s Go Redmen!!!!!