NCAA Basketball New Orleans

The NCAA is set to announce the host cities for the 2012 through 2016 Final Fours. Ten cities have put in bids for the event ... meaning half will go home disappointed.

Ranking the field:

1-Indianapolis: This is NCAA headquarters and they love having the Final Four here. Since the 2010 Final Four will be held in Indy, expect the new Lucas Oil Field to get the 2015 or 2016 event.

2-New Orleans: The NCAA loves N'Awlins (four previous trips) and it will have been at least a decade since the last one at the Superdome (2003). The dome seems to be in fine shape and they are also trying to land a Super Bowl in the (somewhat) near future. I think the NCAA gets this done in 2013 or 2014.

3-Phoenix: I think that Phoenix/Glendale is the next great stop for sporting events. The Super Bowl was a huge success a the new stadium and I think the Final Four would love to grab some of that. I see the 2012 or 2013 Final Four getting awarded here.

4-San Antonio: San Antonio has become a bit of a great place to have a Final Four. They have had three of them from 1998 to 2008. I think the love affair could continue with the 2016 event. However, one strike against the Alamodome could be that they have been there quite a bit of late.

5-North Texas: The new digs and the potentially amazing capacity makes this very, very attractive. Imagine over 100,000 watching the NCAA Championship game! It could happen. The strike against it could be the fact that this means over-Texas-ing this event (San Antonio in '08, Houston in '11 and now Dallas?). If Dallas pulls this off, it could steal San Antonio's bid down the road.

When they beat North Carolina State in mid-November, I told you the hardscrabble story about Joe Pasternack and the New Orleans Privateers. Three coaches in three years and the loss of their arena paled to what others have struggled with in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina but it's a fair bet that no other NCAA team has had to deal with so much. That determination paid off once again last night when Shaun Reynolds made a three-point play with four seconds left to beat Colorado 67-65 in Boulder.

The Buffaloes led by six at the half but Bo McCalebb, the Sun Belt Player of the Year in waiting, scored 20 points in the final 20 minutes to put Reynolds in his heroic position. He outdueled Richard Roby in the process. Roby dropped a career-high 27 on the Privateers, and grabbed 14 rebounds to boot, but his effort couldn't forestall a third straight loss for the Buffs.

That poor record, as well as the ongoing struggles of the Wolfpack, makes it hard to assume that New Orleans can do enough out of conference to land at at-large bid to the Big Dance. Western Kentucky is the only other Sun Belt school with big wins on their resume and if they both beat up on their respective divisions it will likely come down to one or the other in March. Should be a great game when it happens, though.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:

Earlier today Adam Rank caught you up on all the goings on among the mid-major teams on the West Coast. Lest you think we practice any kind of West Coast bias here at the 'House, we'll do the same to make sure you're up to date on the rest of the country as well. We've already discussed George Mason's big weekend at the Old Spice and the egg Southern Illinois laid against USC so we'll jump ahead to the rest of the winners and losers of the week gone by.

The Butler Bulldogs are laying down the gauntlet for all the other mid-majors in the country with another dose of November excellence. Last year they knocked off Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga before Thanksgiving leftovers were finished and did it all in front of the eager eyes of Preseason NIT watchers. This year they spent the holiday in Alaska but were no less successful. Chalk Michigan, Virginia Tech and Texas Tech up as this years major conference foes to succumb to the talents of Mike Green and A.J. Graves. Ohio State is up next for the 16th-ranked Horizon favorites who could be bound for a return trip to the Sweet Sixteen.