Before we get to the next-level madness and the SEC-centric brackets, let’s draw a line at center court. Between the regular season and the postseason. Between every other season they’ve played college basketball in this once football-only state and this one.

Because no matter what happens from here, the bar has been raised. History has been made. This has been the greatest basketball season in the Heart of Dixie, the home of Charles Barkley, Robert Horry and Mo Finley. Let me count the ways.

There are 10 Division I teams in the state. Eight of them have won 20 or more games. Alabama State, which captured the SWAC Tournament and its automatic NCAA Tournament bid for the first time in 14 years, can make it nine 20-win teams with a victory in the First Four.

As a reward, the Hornets, led by former Auburn assistant Tony Madlock, would play No. 1 overall seed Auburn.

About that. With everyone throwing roses at Florida during its run to the SEC Tournament title, it was nice to see the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee stand by its principle that the entire season matters. From November to now, Auburn compiled the strongest resume in the country.

Perhaps Gator Nation forgot about Florida’s non-conference strength of schedule, ranked No. 234 to Auburn’s No. 19. Or maybe Jay Williams and those other little Blue Devils at ESPN failed to notice Duke’s overall strength of schedule, ranked No. 56 to Auburn’s No. 2.

Florida was the best team in the best conference tournament ever for three days in Nashville. Auburn was the best team in the best conference ever, a league that shattered the record with 14 NCAA bids, over 18 games, clinching the regular-season title with a week to spare.

This is the second time in three years that the selection committee ranked a team from this state as the top seed in the entire field. Two years ago, it was Alabama, and it’s a new rule in the Iron Bowl of Basketball, the best roundball rivalry in the country thanks to Bruce Pearl and Nate Oats. Anything Alabama can do, Auburn can, too. And vice versa.

No. 1 seed Auburn, No. 2 seed Alabama and No. 16 Alabama State aren’t the only state teams dancing this week. No. 14 seed Troy is back in the bracket for the first time in eight years as the Sun Belt champion. This is the third time in four years that this state has sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament, and seven of the state’s DI programs have been represented in that run.

Not to mention, North Alabama, Jax State and UAB reached their conference tournament championship games in the last week before falling short, leaving them one win shy of joining the bracket.

But wait. There’s more. In addition to the four NCAA Tournament teams, four more state teams made the NIT: UAB, Jax State, North Alabama and Samford. That’s eight of the state’s 10 Division I teams advancing to postseason tournaments.

That is historic, but no one should be surprised. As a group, the 10 DI programs within our borders won four regular-season conference titles (Auburn in the SEC, North Alabama in the ASUN, Troy and South Alabama in the Sun Belt) and two conference tournament championships (Troy in the Sun Belt and Alabama State in the SWAC).

Nine of our 10 DI teams won at least 12 league games, and all 10 combined compiled a 123-57 conference record this season. That winning percentage of .683 ranked third among the 49 states and the District of Columbia that include at least one Division I program. Alaska is the outlier.

The only states to rank higher than Alabama in cumulative conference winning percentage: Vermont, which has only one Division I team, and New Mexico, which has two.

Among other postseason honors, this state produced three conference players of the year (Auburn’s Johni Broome in the SEC, Troy’s Tayton Conerway in the Sun Belt and Jax State’s Jaron Pierre Jr. in CUSA) and three league coaches of the year (Auburn’s Pearl, Jax State’s Ray Harper and South Alabama’s Richie Riley in the Sun Belt).

The Sporting News named Broome national player of the year, and if there’s justice in the college basketball world, it won’t be the last such honor he gathers over the next month.

To make this season even more spectacular, Auburn was ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for eight straight weeks, a record for any SEC program not named Kentucky. Alabama also got to No. 1 in the country in the USA Today Coaches Poll. ESPN’s College GameDay took its road show to both Auburn and Alabama.

The single-game highlight of this singular season came when No. 1 Auburn beat No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa in the first 1 vs. 2 AP poll matchup in SEC history. The rematch in Auburn may have been an even better game, Alabama winning on a Mark Sears buzzer-beating floater in overtime.

The good news is, the good times don’t have to end there. The selection committee gifted us a bracket with Auburn on one side as the No. 1 seed in the South and Alabama on the other side as the No. 2 seed in the East. That means, if each team can navigate its way through five challenging opponents – which each team is perfectly capable of doing – they will meet in the final game of the season.

They’ve already set a rivalry record for one season with 53 victories between them, 28 by Auburn, 25 by Alabama. What are a few more?

Imagine. Auburn vs. Alabama. Alabama vs. Auburn. The national championship game. The ultimate IBOB. The game to decide bragging rights till the end of time.

That’s the only way for the greatest basketball season in state history to end. With the ball in the air, a ring and a banner in the balance. That was my story when the season began, and despite the ups and downs of the last two weeks, I’m sticking to it.

If it happens, you read it here first. If it doesn’t, let’s try it again next year.