Court Setup Concerns Roy Williams

DETROIT -- There are few places -- the golf course, maybe -- where Roy Williams would rather be than where he was Saturday night and will be again on Monday night: the biggest stage in college basketball. He'd just prefer it not be raised like it is at Ford Field.

"I don't like the safety [of it]," Williams said Sunday afternoon of the floor the NCAA is using for this tournament championship round, which is waist high off the ground and has everyone around it, the benches included, seated around it in a moat.

"When we played Michigan State here before, we had a guy go off the court, one of Michigan State's players, I don't know if it was Raymar [Morgan] or who, but that scared me," Williams said. "That kind of thing -- I almost fell off the stupid court -- that scared me."

I haven't heard anyone endorse the Vanderbilt-ization of the Final Four court (Vanderbilt's basketball court is famously built above the floor). An assistant coach from Villanova sitting next to me during the Connecticut-Michigan State game groaned about the configuration.

"As a coach," Williams continued, "it is not comfortable 'cause when you're sitting down, and I like to sit on the bench more than I like to kneel in front or stand, I like to have my assistant coaches give me input. I like to talk to the players. But you cannot see down below that court.

"It's better now, I think, than it was when we were here [early in the season]," Williams said. "I think they've raised the benches a little bit. But it is really difficult to see the far corner over there and see what's going on sitting in that seat."

NCAA Tournament Action

GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 21: Wayne Ellington #22 of the North Carolina Tar Heels drives against Garrett Temple #14 of the Louisiana State University Tigers during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum on March 21, 2009 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Wayne Ellington;Garrett Temple

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: A Washington Huskies cheerleader performs during a break in the action against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Manny Harris #3 of the Michigan Wolverines jumps to the basket for a lay up against Taylor Griffin #32 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Manny Harris

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Zack Novan #0 and Zack Gibson #32 of the Michigan Wolverines vie for the loose ball with Blake Griffin #23 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Zack Gibson;Zack Novak;Blake Griffin

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Willie Warren #13 of the Oklahoma Sooners makes contact as he goes to the basket with Zack Gibson #32 of the Michigan Wolverines in the first hafl during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Willie Warren

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Taylor Griffin #32 of the Oklahoma Sooners goes up for the short jump shot against DeShawn Sims #34 of the Michigan Wolverines in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Taylor Griffin;DeShawn Sims

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: JaJuan Johnson #25 of the Purdue Boilermakers goes up for a shot over Jon Brockman #40 of the Washington Huskies in the second half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** JaJuan Johnson;Jon Brockman

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Taylor Griffin #23 of the Oklahoma Sooners and Zack Novak #0 of the Michigan Wolverines vie for position to the loose ball in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Zack Novak;Taylor Griffin

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Head Coach Jeff Capel of the Michigan Wolverines yells from the sideline during their game against the Oklahoma Sooners in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Capel

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: Lewis Jackson #23 of the Purdue Boilermakers goes up for a layup as Quincy Pondexter #20 of the Washington Huskies looks on during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Lewis Jackson;Quincy Pondexter

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The floor wasn't built, of course, with the players and coaches, who everyone came out to see and tuned into watch, in mind. It was done for the sake of the 72,000-plus fans, especially the ones way up there where the game must be little more than a rumor, that the NCAA sold tickets to in Ford Field, which was built for football. It was done for television, which helps make the NCAA a multi-billion dollar concern.

Like Williams, I like it a lot better when the only thing elevated about the Final Four are the expectations for three great games.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and a former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He lives in Silver Spring, Md.