The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT April 4, 2012

It's been way too long since the NCAA men's Final Four has been in the Pacific Northwest.

Granted, there's no way that the games can be played in Seattle in late March in an open-air stadium such as CenturyLink Field, but there are other options.

IN PREVIOUS trips out west, the tournament could always be held inside the Kingdome.

There, you'd never have to worry about the wind, rain or a little snow.

Falling ceiling tiles, that's another story.

But since the Dome was demolished to make way for the new stadium on March 26, 2000, the final weekend of the biggest tournament in college sports hasn't been out west since.

Some of those teams from the northwest (Washington, Gonzaga, Washington State) have been close, but not quite close enough to get to the final weekend of the tournament, which could be a reason why the interest isn't there.

Meanwhile, with the baseball season starting later and later, Safeco Field sits empty.

Safeco at least has a retractable roof, which eliminates the risk of rain coming into the stadium. Should the wind blow, a few of the sections with some openings could be affected.

Earlier this season, North Carolina and Michigan State played on an aircraft carrier.

So the idea of playing a championship game in a stadium that could have a little bit of wind shouldn't be an issue.

It's likely the biggest issue could be in the lack of seating in and around the court, which could make for a problem.

For those good teams, they can play anywhere and under any conditions.

Bringing the tournament back to Seattle might have its roadblocks, but so does the NCAA.

THIS YEAR'S tournament had its great moments and upsets once again.

Lehigh beating Duke and Norfolk State beating Missouri are two of the bigger upsets seen in some time during the tournament.

Spokane, because of a new rule that requires at least 12,000 seats to host the second/third round games, is maybe out of the running unless they can expand the seating in The Arena.

But if fans want to see those games in the future, they’ll likely need to make their way to Seattle to capture it, as KeyArena can still host games for the time being.

As far as drawing the Final Four back out west, Safeco is the best bet.

With the Mariners not needing the stadium until the middle of April, there’s always time to get things set up and torn down in plenty of time.

Of the four teams in this year’s final, Kansas was the furthest west school of the bunch.

You don’t need to look at a map to realize just how far away that is from downtown Coeur d’Alene.

Maybe getting that tournament to the northwest will give its fans a chance to see just how the game is played.

Or just get to see a tournament again.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].