**5:42 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich. -** Just made it back to the hotel. It’s snowing, cold and miserable outside. Ugh.Ryan Wood, the biggest Royals fan I know, made sure to point out that the Royals and Tigers open up here Monday afternoon. Hard to figure.Forgot to mention earlier from the post-locker room notes that I had a chance to catch up with Mike Lee, KU grad assistant and former guard, talking about the depth perception issue in an arena like Ford Field. He, as you remember, played in Final Fours in Atlanta and New Orleans. He said the set-up in Ford Field resembles the way things were in the Georgia Dome. He also said once you get a couple of shots out of your system, no big deal. So that ought to put that issue to sleep.He said he’d never seen an elevated floor before, though. Also made it sound like he’d have a bit of concern playing on one.**Also, I met back up with our KU staffer, Beau White, who made his Greene Room debut last week.** In case you forgot, he’s not really supposed to give an opinion on the games due to NCAA rules. That said, of course we’re asking him his opinion on every game the rest of the way…**On Wisconsin-Davidson:** ‘Time will tell.’**On KU-‘Nova:** SHould be a great matchup of two evenly-matched teams.’Good stuff from B-Dub, a true friend of the program.—————–**4:44 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich. -** Sorry for the delay. Busy afternoon, but we’ve got plenty for you.First off, I’ve got to thank again, [Gus Johnson][1] of CBS for taking some time to join us for the [first edition of the Spodcasters in Detroit][2]. Incredible dude. Definitely glad to have met him.Also spotted at Ford Field: Legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson. He’s here doing a radio gig, and as he was leaving in front of him, caught a glimpse of his championship ring. Unreal. Any player seeing that would have to salivate.**As for today in the locker rooms…**VILLANOVA-As you’d expect, the Wildcats fully intend on trying to set the tone early. That’s what Corey Stokes had to say, and they’re confident they can run with the Jayhawks in the same fashion they did against Siena last Sunday.-Also with Stokes, he brought up a meeting with Brandon Rush in high school, when Rush was a senior at Mt. Zion and he was a sophomore at St. Benedict’s. Stokes said for awhile, he molded his game after B-Rush’s, so that’s given him an extra boost going into tomorrow.-The Villanova big men are still confident, despite losing Cassiem Drummond for the season to an ankle injury. Antonio Peña said he’s impressed by KU’s bigs on film, and was especially intrigued by Darrell Arthur, who he clashed with in AAU ball.-The Big East is the best conference in the land. Not my words. That was said by every ‘Nova player I spoke with. Surprise, surprise.-Some of the players compared the expansive atmosphere in Ford Field to what they saw at the Carrier Dome against Syracuse earlier this season.KANSAS-Sherron Collins it essentially sounds like has the same knee injury which slowed him late in the regular season – a bruise. Though this time, he said he has no choice but to play through it. He said this year it’s not as bad as last season in San Jose. Then, he said, he could hardly move.-The Jayhawks seem undaunted by the potential depth perception issues Ford Field will bring. The team looked comfortable on the elevated floor during its practice session here late Thursday afternoon, which was capped by a thunderous windmill dunk off the backboard by Darrell Arthur. I was disappointed by KU, however, coming off the floor, as their players were the only ones not to sign autographs for the little kiddies who were out here to watch. Might have been team policy. Who knows.-The locker room KU got this weekend, which normally belongs to the Detroit Lions, is incredible compared to where the team was a week ago, in a cramped über-closet. Though, still, the team chose lockers all pretty close together in the way back of the dressing area.**Well, we are about to bolt from Ford Field** for the afternoon. And just as we’re packing up, to test the sound system, [‘One Shining Moment’][3] was just playing. How fitting.I’ll be back with one more post in a couple of hours which consists of something I’ve been working on the past couple days out of pure interest. See you then from back at the hotel.—————–**1:12 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich. -** Wow. To say that this place is a different location for a basketball game really wouldn’t do much justice. That said, there’s one question I’m now itching to ask players from both teams during today’s press sessions: How much do you think depth perception could throw off your shooting?It’s one thing to learn to shoot in somewhere like Allen Fieldhouse for the first time, but this is a whole ‘nother animal. The floor is literally a stage, raised about four feet off the ground at midfield of the football grounds. Our seats on the second row of the press area are practically eye level with the floor. The team benches are the same way, which makes me wonder how it will look when Bill Self stands during the game. Will he be on the floor or up on the ‘floor’?Then, on either side of the court, there’s 30 rows of added seats before where the normal football stands begin. It’s not that the stadium goes up really high, it’s just that it goes VERY far back. Shooting will definitely be awkward, I would have to imagine (though as we speak, Villanova is having no problems with it during its practice).**Synopsis:** Beautiful, gorgeous, awe-inspiring facility…for football.The other noticeable things about the setup involve suspension. With the baskets, there’s no wires suspending the backboards to the rafters of the arena, as is the situation in most places. The ceiling/rafters are just way too high up here in relation to the floor. Also, the videoboard atop the court has an intricate web of wires/chains suspending it to the roof.I’ll have pictures/video of much of this later…Interview sessions with both Villanova and KU will take place from 2-3 p.m. (EST). I’ll be back after that.—————–**10:37 a.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich. -** Is it just me, or does anyone else get the feeling that Kansas is under the radar heading into this weekend?In my opinion, the four teams that played the best ball from start to finish of each game last weekend were KU, North Carolina, Texas and Louisville. But the lower your seed, the higher the hype. That’s the case more with Davidson heading into this weekend than Villanova. But everyone loves an upset.That said, expect much of the media attention today to be on…-How Stephen Curry fell through the cracks, past UNC, Duke and other ACC schools…-Where is Davidson?…-How KU avoids upset against the surprise Wildcats, as opposed to how ‘Nova stays afloat against one of the Tournament’s hottest teams (same thing goes for Wisconsin)…-Is Scottie Reynolds in fact Zeus?…That said, some things I’ll be working on today and coming back with periodically…-How valuable to the Jayhawks this year heading into the Tourney’s second weekend is a healthy Sherron Collins, as opposed to last season?-How much more battle-tested to the Wildcats feel they are than most because of having played in the nation’s deepest conference?-Plus, there’s another couple tricks up the sleeves, so check back all day, as Ryan Wood and I will be updating the blogs as often as physically possible (remember, that trek from the media area to the Ford Field court will probably be at least a half-mile…).That said, talk to you once we make it over to Ford and get all settled in.**Also**, if there’s any questions you want answered by a KU player or two (of legitimate status, not Conner Teahan’s relationship status, ladies), submit them below and I’ll see what I can do. Consider it an über-interactive live chat of sorts.[NCAA Home Page][4] [1]: http://sportsline.com/cbssports/team/gjohnson [2]: http://www2.kusports.com/podcasts/spodcasters/2008/mar/27/welcoming_gus_johnson/ [3]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQvKLLHD1hM [4]: http://www.ncaasports.com