The men's show airs live from the Hall on CBS, and the Hall also hosts ESPN's remote coverage of an interview with the chair of the Division I Women's Basketball Committee after the women's bracket is announced.

For the men's show, the production trucks arrive just four days before "Selection Sunday." And in that four-day window, there's as much March Madness going on off the court as on. Here's a sample of what it takes to make what ends up being a smooth, flawless program:

CBS trucks arrive Thursday. Studio desk, chair and remainder of the set are moved from the NCAA distribution center, where they have been stored. Lighting is installed in the studio area. A temporary CBS office is created in the Hall's "gymnasium" exhibit area. That office includes three fax machines, a high-speed copier, 10 phones and 10 additional phone lines for modem access for CBS personnel.

On Friday, the show's producer, Steve Scheer, edits the script and reviews the lighting cues. By Friday evening, the CBS "talent" arrives. Studio hosts Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellogg, along with feature specialist Bonnie Bernstein, have worked the show for several years. Upon arrival, they begin rehearsals.

Local coaches are confirmed to provide on-air comments about the various conference tournaments that are underway. This year's guest: Purdue University's Gene Keady. Also, Bernstein tapes various features that will air Saturday.

On Saturday, Gumbel and Kellogg step up their rehearsals. A CBS statistician is at their side, tracking the conference tournament results and feeding the hosts with updates on players' statistics. The duo goes live at halftime and in-between games that CBS is televising that day, providing updates and analysis on tournament action.

At noon Sunday, the show goes live and continues until the conference tournaments have ended. At about 5 p.m., the bracket arrives via police escort from a downtown Indianapolis hotel in which the Division I Men's Basketball Committee has finished its work. At 6 p.m., the studio hosts and the committee chair go through a final run-through of the script, along with questions and answers about the bracket. One final teleconference also is conducted with the president of CBS Sports.

At 6:30 p.m., fans across the country learn the fates of their favorite teams, never knowing that so much work went into the seamless show.

Once the selection show is over, the studio hosts continue to work, doing some sound-bites that will be used for the duration of the tournament. By about 8 p.m., CBS personnel head for the airport. The set is disassembled and the miles of cable are collected and taken away.

Monday morning. The Hall opens for business as usual, without a trace that one of TV sports' biggest spectacles has taken place.

"The fact that the production comes across so smoothly is a testament to the folks at the Hall of Champions and our technicians," said Scheer, who also produced the show when it aired in Kansas City. "Even the first year (2000), when the Hall was still under construction and everyone expected a roller-coaster ride, we rode the straightaway in terms of production.

"Coming into this year, we all knew exactly what we wanted and it worked very well. The great thing about the people involved is that the closest they come to saying 'No' is 'let me see what I can do.' It's great to work with people like that."

-- Gary T. Brown