Well, when it comes to adorning sites from coast to coast, be it a softball diamond or hardwood floor, there is a method to the "Madness."

In the not so very "old days," championship-logo development was a matter of a few phone calls and mock-ups. And because of the different people involved from logo to logo, there wasn't much uniformity in the look of the logos or in their application. Some even used designs that were difficult to translate for television or for embroidery companies to incorporate into clothing.

"The primary goal is to create equity in the NCAA's parent mark with everything we do," said Melissa Caito, NCAA director of brand management and licensing. "When we started the process of redefining the NCAA family of marks almost three years ago, we determined there should be some element of the parent mark in everything we do, which not only builds equity in the NCAA mark, but elevates the other marks as well."

So who decides whether a logo passes muster? Why, the logo jury, of course. Once a championship site and host is determined, the NCAA graphics staff drafts a logo based on a number of factors, including input from the host (color preference in order to blend with existing arena colors, or an item that is unique to the area or site). After that, the proposed logo must pass through three approval hoops, one of which is a "jury" composed of representatives from the NCAA public affairs, championships and branding staffs (for Final Four logos, the Men's and Women's Final Four staffs serve as the logo juries, with additional input from the branding staff). At that point, the host institution provides final approval.

"What we look for in a championship mark is whether it conveys the message that this is the NCAA's pinnacle event in that sport," Caito said. "We want a logo to capture the mystique and stature of an NCAA national championship."

Caito said that has been an ongoing process, simply because some championship logos themselves have more equity than others.

"When you look at a Final Four logo, you know that's an NCAA championship because there's a lot of equity in that event," she said. "But some of our other championships don't yet have that kind of name recognition. Our goal is to brand the events, both with a name and a visual mark that build the equity necessary for people to know just by seeing the logo that it's an NCAA championship."

Part of the NCAA's overall brand-recognition initiative is to encourage member institutions to use the sports-specific logos for promotional purposes. They can be found in the NCAA's logo library at www.ncaa
.org/bbplogo/logo.cgi. Once on the site, users should click on "media" and click the "enter site" button. Users then will be prompted with instructions to send the logo of their choice to their own e-mail address.