DETROIT -- Ford Field is no Astrodome. Brian Butch is no Elvin Hayes. Stephen Curry is no Lew Alcindor. And this week's NCAA Midwest Regional here has nothing on the Game of the Century.

Jan. 20, 1968.

The beginning of the end?

Or the beginning of the madness?

The latter, because that's when the madness, March madness, really all began -- under a dome.

Houston basketball coach Guy Lewis came up with the idea of playing UCLA in the Astrodome. That was the easy part. Selling the concept to John Wooden was the challenge.

Wooden eventually relented setting the stage for a heavyweight matchup between Hayes and Alcindor.

Turned out to be a mismatch in front of 52,693.

Hayes made 17-of-25 shots and scored 39 points. He also  collected 15 rebounds. Alcindor, coming off an eye injury, converted on just 4-of-18 attemps and finished with 15.

Houston beat UCLA, 71-69, on the strength of two Hayes' free throws with 28 seconds remaining. The Bruins, though, got a payback in the NCAA tournament, crushing the Cougs.

In a very large sense that game legitimized college basketball, paving the way for today's made-for-TV spectaculars.

Forty years later, Domeball is the rage.

But is bigger always better? There's no shortage of tickets for Ford Field, the site of the Midwest Regional.

 As of Wednesday, the Detroit Free Press was reporting that 56,229 tickets had been sold. Seating capacity for this event has been listed at 72,000.

The NCAA record was set here in 2003 when Kentucky whipped Michigan State, 79-74. in front of 78,129 at Ford Field.

If you're wondering about shooting backgrounds for Friday's first semifinal between Wisconsin and Davidson, don't.

Kentucky shot 60 percent (29-of-48) in that win over the Spartans. It was a Kentucky team, by the way, that went on to eliminate the Badgers in the Sweet 16 under another dome (the Metrodome in Minneapolis).

Domeball is here to stay, for better or worse.