By the time this newspaper hits the stands, we will be halfway through the schedule in Region IX North men’s basketball play. The only thing that’s been determined so far is that nothing — absolutely nothing — has been determined.

Considering this is the first season that Region IX has done away with the former four-subregion format and instead used volleyball’s model of North and South divisions to determine postseason tournament seeding, the powers that be simply couldn’t have picked a better year to start with. As I write these words, seven teams — keep in mind that the north half of Region IX only has nine teams — are within one game of each other in the North division standings. One game.

That, of course, will change shortly after the ink has dried on this page. The Trapper men were scheduled to be in action at Gillette on Wednesday night, meaning that two of the four teams currently sharing the Region IX North lead are facing off against one another. The winner remains ahead by a nose. The loser will have tumbled from the top of the mountain, potentially all the way down to the bottom.

Talk about your razor-thin margins for error.

There is not an easy game left on the schedule for the Northwest College men. Not a single contest can afford to be overlooked. Coming out of the locker room with anything less than maximum effort could have enormous consequences.

Because there are six other schools that are currently stressing that exact same point to their teams as we speak.

College football tries with all its might to create the illusion that every game matters. NJCAA basketball in Region IX is delivering that reality.

There might not be much distance between No. 1 and No. 7 right now, but come the March tournament the difference between pairing up against a No. 8 or a No. 2 seed from the South will be huge.