Play-in games add to the madness

This season, there are four play-in games for the NCAA tournament in Dayton, then the usual 32 first-round games, since those first-round games are now called second-round games. Confused yet? Since we'll be at 32 by Thursday, here are 32 questions, and all the answers you need to know during March Madness.

1. Why four play-in games?

The answer to all such questions is always the same, $$$$$. The power conferences don't want to lose lucrative spots to the little guys as new conferences pop up, so here is the compromise. Two of the play-in games in Dayton will be for the lowest ranked teams in the tournament, featuring a lot of schools with hyphens. The winners will enter the field as No. 16 seeds.

The other two games in Dayton will be for the last four at-large teams selected into the field. Those lucky four are USC, Virginia Commonwealth, Alabama-Birmingham and Clemson. Three of them would have been out if the format had followed past years, since three at-large spots were added this year. We're guessing that Clemson would have been in, the other three out. It also appears that Richmond had to win the Atlantic Ten tournament to secure a bid, since they are a 12 seed.

2. One obvious drawback of adding more teams?

Now, it's really hard to care about the teams left out. If you're in the NIT, you belong in the NIT. Was Colorado really going to get to the second weekend?

3. What about 'Nova's seed?

Despite their five straight losses to end the season, the Wildcats earned their way in through a side door, not a back door, with their wins over UCLA, Temple, Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, and West Virginia.

4. Any chance they recover some confidence?

If the Wildcats can forget that they played the last minute of the Big East tournament like a bad CYO B team, they'll prove their mental toughness. They also can go in with a chip on their shoulder, tired of hearing from everybody how they played like a bad CYO B team.

5. Last year, we downplayed the Big East, predicting no teams would make it to the Elite Eight. What about this year?