Any hoops fan worth his salt should know what “March Madness” is all about.

For the uninitiated, though, it refers to the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men’s collegiate basketball tournament.

For nearly three weeks from mid-March to early April of the one-loss-and-you-re-out competitions, a total of 65 schools try to knock off each other for the bragging rights to the U.S. national collegiate title.

The national semifinals, or “Final Four,” will be played at the Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis on April 3 (Apr. 4, Manila time). The stadium has a capacity seat of around 70,000 for basketball.

The championship game will be held two days later (Apr. 6, Manila time), also at the same venue.

The Final Four matchups feature West Regional champion Butler (32-4) vs. Midwest champion Michigan State (28-8) and East champion West Virginia (31-6) vs. South champion Duke (33-5).

Butler and West Virginia have yet to win their first-ever NCAA title.

Fifth seed Butler downed second seed Kansas State, 63-56, to capture the West title. Owners of a 24-game winning streak, the upset-conscious Bulldogs are in the Final Four for the first time in school history. Butler, which is only five miles from Lucas Oil Stadium, is the first school from a legitimate mid-major conference to make it to the Final Four since Fil-Am Gabe Norwood and George Mason accomplished the feat it 2006 (a trip that also concluded in Indy).

Second seed West Virginia trounced top seed Kentucky, 73-66, to annex the East crown. The Mountaineers will make their first Final Four appearance since 1959 when future LA Lakers great and Hall of Famer Jerry West powered the school to the NCAA finals against the California Golden Bears.

California won, 71-70, but West wound up as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. West’s son, Johnny, is a seldom-used guard on this year’s West Virginia squad.

The Duke Blue Devils, who are ranked No. 3 nationally, was the lone No. 1 seed to qualify for the Final Four, trouncing the third-seeded Baylor Bears, 78-71, to capture the South Regional. The Blue Devils are in the Final Four for the first time since 2004 and are seeking their first national title since 2001 (and the fourth overall in school history).

In the Midwest Regional finals, the No. 5 seed Michigan State Spartans edged out the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers, 70-69, to reach the Final Four for the second consecutive year. The Spartans are looking for the third NCAA crown in school history.

Unquestionably, there will be a new NCAA champion this year.

That’s because the University of North Carolina, the 2009 national titlist, failed to earn an NCAA tournament berth. Instead, the Tar Heels landed in the also-ran National Invitation Tournament, where they have qualified for a Final Four stint at New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden for the first time since 1973.

The Tar Heels, who crushed the Michigan Spartans, 89-72, in the 2009 NCAA finals before a tournament-record crowd of 72,922 at the Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, lost four key players to the National Basketball Association this season.

They are first-round draft choices Tyler Hansbrough (No. 13 by Indiana), Ty Lawson (No. 18 by Minnesota – rights traded to Denver), Wayne Ellington (No. 28 by Minnesota – 2009 NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player)) and second-rounder Danny Green (No. 46 by Cleveland).

North Carolina thus has to settle for a trip to the Big Apple instead of the Big Dance.

Even the overall top seed in the 2010 NCAA tournament was sent home early.

The nationally No. 1-ranked University of Kansas Jayhawks were upset by No. 9 seed Northern Iowa, 69-67, in second-round action in the Midwest Regional.

Two other tournament No. 1 seeds were also eliminated before the Final Four round.

The Syracuse Orange, ranked fourth nationally, fell to the No. 5 seed Butler Bulldogs, 63-59, in the semifinals of the West Regional.

The Kentucky Wildcats, rated second in the country, absorbed a 73-66 defeat at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers in the East Regional finals.

Wildcats rookie playmaker John Wall, who collected 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists against West Virginia, will likely pass up his final three years of varsity eligibility and is primed to be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 NBA draft in June.