The NBA players have rejected the owners' offer of a 50/50 revenue split, meaning the 2011-2012 season, while not officially dead, is certainly on some form of life support. The words being bandied about now are of the legal variety - we're hearing references to things like the Sherman Anti-Trust Act - which is never a good thing in a labor dispute.

The more cynical (myself included) had a feeling that the two sides wouldn't be able to come to an agreement, and now millions of NBA fans are facing the possibility that they won't be able to watch their favourite teams or players until at least November of 2012.

So what will fill the gap when "The Association" isn't there to entertain and amuse?

For the moment, the NFL is in full swing and college football is heading towards bowl season, so American's strongest sport will only get stronger. But once the college games wrap up in January and the Super Bowl finishes in early February, it will be interesting to see where TV audiences point their remotes.

The National Hockey League would seem like an obvious choice. Its season has paralleled the NBA's for years and in some places - Detroit, Philadelphia - hockey is arguably more popular and more successful than basketball. The NHL is fast-paced and exciting, and if you watched last year's Stanley Cup Finals, you know it's packed with drama.

There's only one problem: the fanbases couldn't be more different. If the NBA is Drake, the NHL is Blake Shelton. Ok, maybe it isn't that cut and dried, but I'm not convinced millions of pro basketball fans will suddenly start learning about icing and cross-checking.

No, the more likely sport to become the "interim NBA" is college basketball. For one thing, it's the same game with a few minor differences. Your average NBA fan may not love college hoops, but you're not asking him to learn a whole new set of rules.

In addition, the next generation of NBA stars is on display. Assuming this lockout doesn't last a decade, the players you watch this season - Jeremy Lamb or Jared Sullinger for instance - are the future John Walls and Kevin Durants.

College basketball is intense and the rivalries are fierce. Rarely will you see college players phone it in because they have a hottie waiting back at the hotel. There are also some great rivalries: Purdue v Indiana, Kansas v Kansas State, and of course, Duke v North Carolina, which is far more passionate than anything the NBA can throw up.

That said, there is some downside.

College basketball is slower and more zone reliant than the NBA. It's a game controlled by the coaches, which isn't always a good thing.

It's also much sloppier. Not that a March game between the Bobcats and Timberwolves is a thing of beauty, but if you only watch the NBA, you'll probably be surprised at the number of stupid things college basketball players do.

Here in Australia, the NBA fills a nice niche in sports programming, with games airing in the morning and afternoon. If there is no season, then college games will have to pick up the slack. Already, ESPN and ESPN 2 are pumping out the NCAA hoops live on a daily basis.

There are some other options. European basketball, featuring Aussies like Matt Nielsen and Joe Ingles, is unquestionably the best basketball played outside of the NBA. But for some reason - I'm not sure if it's the style, the broadcast quality or the fact that teams have names like Brose Baskets - Euro ball seems slightly less appealing than the NCAA.

And then there's the NBL, which unfortunately is hamstrung by the much-debated TV deal that relegates the games to late nights on OneHD.

By the time the NCAA tournament - the event known as "March Madness" rolls around - I'm guessing Aussie viewers will be much more familiar with North Carolina's Harrison Barnes and UConn's Andre Drummond than Townsville's Eddie Gill.