Thanks to ESPN and ESPN HD, Australian viewers have never had better access to the NCAA Men's basketball tournament. Fans of the NBA are discovering that the college game, while not as athletic, can be just as exciting.

This weekend's "Final Four" will see 70,000 fans fill Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to watch surprising hometown favourite Butler play Michigan State, and traditional power Duke take on West Virginia.

Here's a BPL rundown on each of the schools.

DUKE

Nickname: Blue Devils

Location: Durham, North Carolina

Undergraduate enrollment: 6,200

Coach: Mike Krzyzewski, age 63. "Coach K" has won three NCAA titles and most recently coached the Olympic team to gold in Beijing.

Final Four appearances: 34 (three national titles)

Best player: Jon Scheyer

Famous NBA star: Grant Hill

Notable alum: Former U.S. President and crook Richard Nixon

In a nutshell: Duke is the Collingwood of college basketball: millions love ‘em, millions hate ‘em. Duke fans point to the fact that Coach K runs a classy program that combines athletics and academics better than anyone else. Duke haters claim favourtism by referees and tournament officials, pointing to the Blue Devils "easy" path to this year's Final Four.

WEST VIRGINIA

Nickname: Mountaineers

Location: Morgantown, West Virginia

Undergraduate enrollment: 22,000

Coach: Bob Huggins, aged 56. "Huggy Bear" is a West Virginia native who has previously coached at Cincinnati and Kansas State. Unlike most college coaches who wear the suit-and-tie look, Huggins prefers a tracksuit.

Final Four appearances: 2 (runners-up once)

Best player: Da'Sean Butler

Famous NBA star: Jerry West

Notable alum: Goofy actor Don Knotts

In a nutshell: This is West Virginia's first trip to the Final Four since 1959, and residents of the downtrodden state eat, sleep and breathe Mountaineer sports. Huggins is a loveable rogue, and tends to run programs with little concern for academic achievement.

BUTLER

Nickname: Bulldogs

Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

Undergraduate enrollment: 4,000

Coach: Brad Stevens, age 33. The youngest Final Four coach since Bob Knight in 1973, Stevens gave up a promising career at Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company because he wanted to coach basketball.

Final Four appearances: 1 (this is their first)

Best player: Gordon Hayward (pictured, above)

Not-so-famous NBA star: Ralph "Buckshot" O'Brien from the 1950s

Notable alum: Jim Jones, founder of Kool Ade-drinking cult the People's Temple.

In a nutshell: This is the best story of the tournament and is being touted as the modern day version of "Hoosiers." That inspirational basketball movie was not only filmed in Butler's gymnasium, it's where the actual final game took place. Butler's campus is about seven miles from Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Final Four is being staged.

MICHIGAN STATE

Nickname: Spartans

Location: East Lansing, Michigan

Undergraduate enrollment: 36,500

Coach: Tom Izzo, age 55. Regarded as one of the best college coaches in the country, Izzo has been to more Final Fours in the last eleven years than anyone else, and won the national title in 2000.

Final Four appearances: 8 (two national titles)

Best player: Durrell Summers

Famous NBA star: Magic Johnson

Notable alum: "Vega$" and "Spenser: For Hire" actor Robert Urich

In a nutshell: Although Michigan State is one of the nation's best programs, few expected them to get this far. They'll be hampered by the absence of sparkplug guard Kalin Lucas, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.

Semi-Finals:

Sunday, 8 am, ESPN and ESPN HD

Butler (32-4) v Michigan State (28-8)

Sunday, 10:30 am, ESPN and ESPN HD

Duke (33-5) v West Virginia (31-6)

Championship Game:

Tuesday, 11 am, ESPN and ESPN HD