…and it’s not as bad as we thought it was going to be.

The final four at-large teams and final four automatic qualifiers in the newly minted 68-team NCAA men’s basketball tournament field will meet for the right to enter the traditional 64-team draw, tournament selection committee chairman Dan Guerrero announced Monday.

The “First Four” will be played either the Tuesday or Wednesday after Selection Sunday. The winners of the four games will advance to what will now be called the “second round” on either Thursday or Friday.

The games will be televised on TruTv (formerly CourtTV), which is available in 93 million homes, said NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen, who manages the NCAA tournament. CBS, Turner, TBS and TruTV are in their first year of a $10.8 billion, 14-year television agreement.

There was a lot of talk about a possible expansion to 96 teams, which would just be an obvious money grab by the NCAA, but the entity showed some restraint and are only going to expand the tournament by three teams.

I don’t know what the hell TruTV is or if I even get it on DirecTV, but this is the way for a channel to put itself on the map.

But wait a second — the last few at-large teams (#10-#12) aren’t seeded as low as the last few automatic bids (#16), so how are the winners of the “First Four” going to be inserted in the rest of the tournament field?

Guerrero and Shaheen said the last four at-large teams would be put on the seed line the committee decided they earned. So, this could mean that two could be considered No. 12 seeds playing for the right to play a No. 5 and two could be No. 11s vying to play a No. 6 in the second round.

In its news release, the NCAA listed the 10th seed as a possible destination for the last at-large teams, something that has occurred in past years. It is unlikely that the committee will have one team seeded 10th, 11th or 12th to avoid having teams seeded differently playing in a First Four game.

Confused yet? Me too, but at least the NCAA has a plan. I just don’t know quite how it’s going to work. If these are #11 vs. #16 games, then potentially there would be a #16 vs. #6 matchup if the #16-seed won its “First Four” game. That is going to take some getting used to.

Hey, at least they didn’t expand it any further.

The NCAA is considering expanding its basketball tournament, and one option is to expand the field to 96 teams.

The NCAA is exploring whether to opt out of its current 11-year, $6 billion TV deal with CBS and expand the men’s basketball tournament field from 65 teams to 68 or 96 teams, according to a report in Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal.

The publication obtained a copy of a request for proposal sent from the NCAA to potential broadcast bidders late last year. In the 12-page proposal, the NCAA outlined a 96-team split format where an over-the-air network pairs with a cable network to broadcast the tournament. CBS and Turner Sports are in discussion for a joint bid. ESPN and Fox are considering whether to do the same.

In the proposal, a field of 68 would add three “play-in” games. In a 96-team field, 31 games would be added.

Florida coach Billy Donovan says “there is nothing wrong with expanding,” while FSU coach Leonard Hamilton says that many of the teams in the NIT are better than the teams that get into the NCAA tournament.

The idea has its opponents too, like Dick Vitale (who calls it “ludicrous”) and collegeRPI.com creator Jerry Palm (who says that expanding “would just add more unqualified teams to a tournament that is already full of them.”)

I could see how an 80-team field could work and it wouldn’t do much damage to the current format. Say you have 32 teams (16 games) on Tuesday night. Those winners would go on to join the top 48 teams and play on Thursday. Most of the teams playing on Tuesday night would be small conference champs that got an automatic bid, or the very last mid-major or power conference teams that barely got in.

The quick turnaround from the Sunday night selection would be tough. Those 32 teams would have to travel to a neutral site (or 16 visiting teams would have to play on the road) with only 24 hours notice.

An 80-team field would add 15 at-large bids which would more than compensate for the few teams every year that are snubbed. But all it’s going to do is create a new list of teams that are snubbed. That’s how it works.

The question is whether or not the current setup, which awards automatic bids to “inferior” schools from small conferences while passing over mediocre-to-good teams from bigger conferences is fair. Generally speaking, I think the current setup is fine. I can only remember one instance where a bubble team went on to the Final Four (George Mason, 2006), and teams that are passed over always have plenty of opportunity during the season to play themselves into an NCAA berth.

Plus, I worry that expansion is only going to make the regular season less important, which is something that BCS apologists argue with regard to a college football playoff.

You have a good thing going, NCAA. Just leave it alone.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

1. No more one-and-dones.
I understand why the NBA wants an age limit, but the one-year-out-of-high-school rule is hurting the college game. Amongst the major programs, there is little continuity season to season and it has thrown blue-chip recruiting on its head. Some of the best coaches in the college ranks are reluctant to recruit the top players because they know they’re just going to have a hole to fill the following summer.

Players should be able to declare for the draft directly out of high school. But if they decide to enroll in college, they must stay a minimum of two seasons. Typically, high schoolers that are good enough to be drafted are good enough to stick in the league. If a high schooler enters the draft (but doesn’t hire an agent), he can always pull out and enroll in school if it doesn’t look like he’s going to be drafted in the first round. This is the same rule that college players have to follow. (And yes, I realize that this is the NBA’s fault, but it’s still a problem for college basketball.)

Roy, back up three feet. Your guys will be able to hear you just fine.

2. Get the coaches off the court.
One thing that drives me nuts about college basketball is the leeway that the officials give head coaches. They’re allowed to stomp around the sidelines like petulant children, throwing hissy fits anytime a call doesn’t go their way. Okay, so maybe the refs are instructed to give the coaches some slack on the proverbial leash, but that doesn’t mean that head coaches should be running onto the court to shout instructions to their teams. It seems like every game there is a near-collision between an official running downcourt and a head coach that is stepping on the sideline (or is on the court all together). I’d like to see the official call an automatic technical if he sees the coach step on the sideline – that would clean this up really quickly.

3. Give us more mid-majors in March Madness.
As TSR contributor Thomas Conroy put it, there just aren’t enough mid-major teams in the tournament. This year’s field only saw four mid-major teams get at-large bids, and this year’s tournament was one of the least exciting in recent memory. This is not a coincidence. Mid-majors tend to play with a chip on their shoulders and when they make a run, it turns into a Cinderella story. The highest seed to make the Sweet Sixteen this year was a #12-seeded Arizona team that had two future lottery picks on the roster. The Wildcats underachieved the entire season, so no one was fitting them for a glass slipper. Everyone loves a David and Goliath story, and small schools usually provide the early round drama. Enough of the mediocre big school teams that don’t have a winning record in conference – let’s give more bids to the Davids.

4. Big schools, give the mid-majors a break. SCHEDULE THEM!
Part of the problem with the lack of bids for the mid-major schools is their inability to schedule teams from the BCS conferences. Sure, the bigger schools will play them, but only at home, where they have a big advantage. I propose a 2-for-1 trade where the two teams agree to a three-year deal. The mid-major would play at the BCS school in the first year, the BCS school would play at the mid-major in the second year and the mid-major would travel for the third game. The better mid-majors could even negotiate a 3-for-2 trade where the two teams agree to a five-year deal. We need to see more of these mid-major/BCS matchups early in the season.

I know there’s a basketball court here somewhere.

5. Enough with the domes already.
I get why the NCAA holds the Final Four (and some Regionals) in domes. Sure, they want to be inclusive and allow as many people to see the games as possible, but it’s more about how many tickets they can sell. Domes were not built for basketball. Even in its biggest form (i.e. the NBA Finals, the Final Four), basketball is a pretty intimate sport. The size of a standard NCAA court is 94’ by 50’ (4,700 square feet). The dimensions of a football field are 360’ by 160’ (57,600 square feet). A football field is more than twelve times the size of a basketball court. Forget about following the game from the upper level. It’s like watching a couple of ants go at it in a sandbox.

Domes might have been a necessary evil 20 years ago, when the picture on the average TV set was pretty crappy, but with the advent of high definition television, why would fans go and spend $300 to watch the game from nosebleed seats when they can watch the game on their 50” plasma in HD for free? Sure, the North Carolina/Michigan State final had good attendance, but East Lansing is only about 90 miles from Ford Field. It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of crowd the next few title games are able to draw. The NCAA should move the event back to basketball arenas. How about the Final Four at Madison Square Garden? Or Staples Center? Let’s create a sense of demand and exclusivity; let’s get some real atmosphere going.

Wayne Ellington couldn’t miss, Ty Lawson couldn’t drive without getting fouled and Michigan State couldn’t handle the ball — this all added up to a 89-72 win for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina jumped out early and Michigan State simply couldn’t recover. They looked tight; the jumpers weren’t falling and they turned the ball over 21 times, which is a TON. Seemingly every time Ty Lawson put the ball on the floor the officials blew the whistle — he ended up shooting 18 free throws and there were a number of questionable calls. For the most part, the refs called a tight game, and that worked against the Spartans, who are used to the rough and tumble play in the Big Ten. Lawson finished with 21 points, six assists and eight steals.

Michigan State didn’t give up; the Spartans had a few opportunities to cut into the lead, but they missed a bunch of threes and anytime the Tar Heels needed a bucket, someone stepped up and knocked down a shot. Ellington and Danny Green combined to shoot 5 of 6 from long range. It was obvious that the estimated 60,000 Spartan fans in attendance were desperate for something to cheer for — but the run never came.

All in all, it was a pretty boring finale to a pretty boring tournament. There were a few buzzer beaters and several good games, but this year’s tourney didn’t have the drama of years past. I don’t know if it was just bad luck or a lack of mid-majors in the field, but it just wasn’t quite as exciting as usual.

Maybe they need to go to a BCS-type format…

Just kidding.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach discusses how the poor economy has Michigan fans rooting for their biggest intrastate rival.

Michigan State knows it will be representing more than its school when it plays North Carolina in the NCAA championship game Monday night at Ford Field in Detroit.

The Spartans will also be representing a state and region that have been battered by the country’s poor economy, climbing unemployment rates and crumbling auto industry.

“There are a lot of cities right now that have problems,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “But this is ours. This is our big city in the state. So that’s why I think it’s a little more meaningful for those of us that are from around here.”

Believe it or not, the Spartans’ surprising run to the NCAA championship game is even meaningful for the sports fans who seem to hate them most.

Even in Ann Arbor, where University of Michigan fans only seem to dislike Ohio State more than Michigan State, it seems most of the Wolverines are rooting for the Spartans to beat the Tar Heels on Monday night.

“The first four times Michigan State went to the Final Four, you usually had the crowd here rooting against the Spartans,” said Ron Dreslinski of Ann Arbor, who sat at the bar in The Blue Leprechaun on South University Avenue on Sunday. “This is really the first time you have Michigan people rooting for them. I think it’s because the game is being played in Detroit. They’re kind of the underdog, too, which makes it easier.”

The poor economy in Michigan is a big reason why Michigan fans are rooting for State, but it also helps that Michigan’s most hated rival is Ohio State, not Michigan State. Plus, outside of Duke, UConn and North Carolina are the most universally disliked basketball programs in the country. Add it all up and you have Wolverines rooting for Spartans.

What is this world coming to?

#1-seed North Carolina vs. #2-seed Michigan State
Tip-Off: 9:21 PM ET
Sagarin Ratings: North Carolina (95.44), Michigan State (90.07)
Line: UNC – 7.5
After the Tar Heels trounced the Spartans by 35 points on Dec. 3, it was clear that if North Carolina stayed healthy, they’d probably make a return trip to Ford Field. Ty Lawson’s swollen toe threw the team’s chances up in the air, but the Tar Heels stayed focused and “The Toe” — after a scare in the first half against LSU — hasn’t given Lawson any noticeable problems in the tournament. Conversely, after that December meeting, the Spartans were left wondering just how good of a team they were. In their defense, they had just returned from a three-game stint at the Old Spice Classic in Florida and were playing their fourth game in seven days — against the top-ranked team in the country no less. Still, the game was in Detroit, and they had a couple days to recover after beating Wichita State on Nov. 30, so they should have put up more of a fight.

So how do we handicap Monday night’s game? Well, the Tar Heels still have an advantage at every position, but the Spartans are playing with a lot of confidence and Ford Field is still just 92 miles from campus. So there figures to be a lot of green and white in the stands tomorrow night, especially since the UConn and Villanova fans have been looking to dump their tickets before they catch a flight out of town.

Unlike most of the teams in the country, Michigan State does have the athletes to run with North Carolina, but the Spartans are just as content to settle into the half court and run their sets. Big Ten Player of the Year Kalin Lucas has to limit or outplay Ty Lawson at the point. If Lawson wins that matchup, it’s going to be a long night for the Spartans. Michigan State can’t pack the lane like they did against UConn. Wayne Ellington and Danny Green have been hot, so the MSU defenders will have to stay home. They need to meet Tyler Hansbrough at the free throw line and keep him from establishing deep position in the post. If they can push him out of his comfort zone, the perimeter defenders won’t have to double.

The bottom line is the Spartans have to get the Tar Heels out of their game. Michigan State can throw 10 or 11 players out there, but they should only push the ball when they have an advantage. Otherwise, they should execute their half court offense and hope that those wide open 15-foot jumpers keep falling. Athleticism isn’t an issue; Michigan State can jump as high and run as fast as North Carolina can, so this game will come down to execution. In the end, I think the Tar Heels will have enough to win the game, but I think Michigan State +7.5 is attractive due to the Spartans “sticktoitiveness.” They’re just going to keep coming and coming until the final buzzer sounds.

One of the more compelling storylines leading up to Saturday’s games was what kind of home court advantage Michigan State would enjoy playing just 92 miles from its campus in East Lansing. It turns out they would have a distinct advantage, and as Villanova fans try to sell off their seats this evening, it should be even bigger on Monday night.

Despite Clark Kellogg’s marveling at the sight lines in the dome, I think all March Madness games should be played in arenas. Domes are just too big for basketball, and with the advent of high definition television, there is little reason to go to a Final Four just to sit in the nosebleed seats. Who cares if you were “there”? Wouldn’t you rather watch the game?

Anyway, Tom Izzo came up with a great game plan and his Spartans executed it to perfection, beating UConn, 82-73. First, they had to harass A.J. Price. Anytime Price came off the screen, the help was there, forcing the guard to be a passer, which is not his forte. He went 5 of 20 on the night with only one assist. Next, they collapsed into the lane and dared the other Huskies to shoot the ball from the perimeter. UConn’s main advantage was on the front line, and the Spartans negated that by essentially camping four defenders in the lane. Anytime Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien or Stanley Robinson caught the ball, there were several hands trying to swipe it away. Lastly, Izzo knew his Spartans would have to get on the glass. UConn was clearly unprepared for the type of tenacity that Michigan State brings to rebounding, and it showed in the box score. Sure, Michigan State only had one more offensive board than UConn, but given the size of the Husky front line, the Spartans had no business getting that many.

In the late game, North Carolina simply out-shot and out-defended Villanova en route to an 83-69 victory. The Tar Heels shot 11 of 22 (50%) from long range while the Wildcats shot a pathetic 5 of 27 (19%). Still, Villanova whittled the lead down to five with 18:15 to go in the second half, but the Tar Heels went on a 9-0 run over the next three and a half minutes to push the lead back out to 14. It wasn’t a pretty game, but North Carolina was in control the entire time.

Michigan State and North Carolina met earlier this season at Ford Field and the Tar Heels won by 35 points. This is a different Spartan team, but it will be interesting to see how each squad uses the earlier game for motivation. Does Michigan State think they can beat UNC after getting trounced? (Yes.) Will the Tar Heels get complacent because they already blew the Spartans out once this season? (Doubtful, but you never know.) It should be a partisan crowd and a compelling game.

Check back tomorrow for a complete preview of Monday’s final.