For the first time since 1995, the March Madness Final Four — the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament semi-final and championship contests — will be held west of Texas. And those games will be held at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The unofficial tip-off and countdown to next spring’s festivities was on Monday morning.

Mark Hollis is athletic director of Michigan State University and the head of the committee that will select the 68-team field for the tournament.

We spoke with Hollis about expectations for the Valley and the current state of men’s college basketball.