As part of the 75th anniversary of the NCAA tournament, the NCAA announced that Atlanta will also play host to the DII and DIII men’s basketball championships in 2013. All three tournament finals will take place on the same weekend, although not all three will get to play in the Georgia Dome. The DII and DIII championships will take place on Sunday, April 7, most likely in the Philips Arena. The DI championship will be held Monday, April 8, in the Georgia Dome.

The general consensus is that the real winners here are the DII and DIII schools, who will get to partake in the infectious atmosphere, enjoy strutting around Atlanta like Big Men on Campus, and possibly even get some attention from NCAA scouts in town to watch the big names. But what would this change mean from Kentucky? Well, with any luck, a DII or DIII school from Kentucky (such as Bellarmine or Transylvania) will also make it to that final weekend, and Kentucky fans would show up to support another team from their state. Fans could potentially get to see two or more Kentucky teams in the most important weekend of college basketball. Also, we can assume that fans from other DII or DIII schools would show up in droves to see a big name, NBA-caliber team such as Kentucky plays. Whether the fans would root for us or against us is another story- hey, everyone loves to see Goliath go down.

Either way, this change is bound to add even more excitement to our favorite weekend of the year. It’ll definitely spur me to root harder for Kentucky’s DII and DIII schools. Any scenario with a Kentucky basketball team winning on basketball’s biggest stage is okay by me.

Except if it’s Louisville, of course.

@KristenGeilKSR