Okay, there’s no use in denying it any longer. It’s finally sunk in. Waking up this morning, there was no ignoring the empty feeling inside. It only comes once a year, sometime between the end of football season and the beginning of baseball season.

It’s like sports purgatory. It’s that time of year when we hang in limbo, waiting for the sports world to pick back up again.

Yeah, yeah, there’s the NBA, but the regular season and playoffs last seven months, the second longest of any of the four major professional sports. Unless you’re a die-hard fan, the road to Game 7 can seem like a trip down I-5 from Bakersfield to Los Angeles — long and torturous.

A certain percentage of fans might look to hockey as their salvation, but according to ESPN.com, that’s only 14 percent of all sports fans in Sacramento.

So as you can see, there aren’t many options. That is, unless you look in places you wouldn’t normally look — like here on campus. The school has had quite a history of cellar-dwelling in many of its athletic programs, but if the developments so far this season are any indication, things could finally be turning around.

OK, maybe not.

But at least the teams in action right now are doing their best to be entertaining. Don’t believe me? Take a look:

Men’s Basketball — At 8-13, the team only has to win two of its final six games of the season to eclipse last year’s record. Over 1,100 people turned out to see a 63-45 loss to Northern Arizona University last Saturday, so more than a few people are noticing that this program is clearly improved and looks to be on the right track.

If transfers Jameel Pugh and E.J. Harris, who are redshirting this season due to NCAA rules, make the impact they are expected to make next year, Hornet fans might have a real cure for the spring sports doldrums.

Women’s Basketball — The infamous losing streak died earlier in the season and the team got a second win on Jan. 9. Hey, you have to start somewhere.

There’s something to be said for a team faces of all that pressure and continues to compete even though the season hasn’t gone the way they might have expected.

If nothing else, fans who attend their games can be assured that they won’t dog it, which is more than you can say for a lot of so-called professionals out there.

Baseball — “Next year, we are going to be better,” Hornet coach John Smith said on April 25 of last season.

At the time, in the midst of a 15-game losing streak in the Big West Conference, optimism seemed like little more than a good quote for a newspaper article.

It appears Smith knew something we didn’t. His team, now independent of a conference affiliation, is 5-1, undefeated at home and off to its best start since 1991. And they aren’t just winning games.

They’re winning them by an average of over five runs, which is good on any level.

If you need your fix and can’t wait until April when the pros start playing ball, go check out the Hornets’ baseball team one weekend afternoon. You definitely won’t be disappointed.

Softball — This team is 4-3 to start the season. A closer look reveals a very tough schedule leading up to conference play in April. It includes big-time schools like Kansas, New Mexico, Iowa, Cal and Stanford.

It’s still a bit early to speculate on how things will turn out, but the Hornets were the preseason co-favorites to win the Pacific Coast Softball Conference, and a gauntlet like the one these women have before them can only help build character and toughness for that run.

It may be cliche, but it’s definitely true: This team should be fun to watch.

These aren’t the only choices you have when you’re looking to keep yourself occupied throughout the spring, but they are some of the best.

Who knows? You just might find that these little side acts steal the show.

To respond to Vince Adversalo’s column, send e-mail to [email protected].