KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From an interest standpoint, the Final Four scored huge Sunday.

It also slightly changed directions, moving away from a dominant front from the East.

Michigan State's victory over Louisville in the Midwest Regional final and North Carolina's triumph over Oklahoma in the South completed the Final Four.

The Spartans will face Connecticut in the opener Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit, and the Tar Heels will take on Villanova in the second game.

The early Sunday outcome — Michigan State's victory — changed the nature of the event.

Had Louisville won, the Big East Conference would have hogged three spots on the final weekend bracket. That's happened only one other time, when the same conference accomplished it in 1985.

Still, half the field is a nice reward for the league considered college basketball's most top-heavy this season.

Michigan State becomes the first team to play a Final Four in its home state since 1994, when Duke fell in the title game to Arkansas at Charlotte, N.C.

It allows a Big Ten team to reach the finals, and coach Tom Izzo waved the league flag after his victory.

"I must admit we've been fighting all year for credibility," Izzo said. "I don't know if this does it or not, but it was definitely a big thing because we beat a very, very good basketball team."

Louisville was the Big East's regular-season and conference tournament champion.

The Final Four could also line up rematches. North Carolina blasted Michigan State at Ford Field during the regular season. Connecticut defeated Villanova in Storrs, Conn.

ACC champion North Carolina is the only one of the group that is returning from last year's Final Four. The Tar Heels were hammered by Kansas in the semifinals, and players said they'll take that lesson to Detroit.

"We have to come out strong from the beginning," Tar Heels point guard Ty Lawson said. "We can't wait until the second half to start playing."

Connecticut looks to retain its five-year title trend.

The Huskies have won two national championships, in 1999 and 2004. Five years after its latest title, Connecticut is back. And like the previous two, UConn won its way to the Final Four through a regional in the Phoenix area.

"I'm buying a house, I purchased land yesterday," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun joked after the Huskies defeated Missouri in the West final in Glendale. "I will come out here every five years."

North Carolina and Michigan State also have won national championships this decade — and it's also the 30th anniversary of the Spartans' 1979 championship, the epic battle between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Of this group, Villanova ended the longest Final Four drought. The Wildcats are back for the first time since that glorious night in 1985 when they pulled off what may have been the most shocking upset in college basketball history, defeating mighty Georgetown.

"I hope to God history repeats itself," Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

Wright, who had worked Villanova camps that year, was in Rupp Arena the night the Wildcats made 22 of 28 shots from the field and took down Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas.

Villanova was a No. 8 seed, the lowest seed to win a national championship.

"Villanova sneaks in and wins the whole thing," Wright said. "If history repeats itself, I'll take it."

For North Carolina coach Roy Williams, this marks his fifth Final Four in eight years. The first two came with Kansas in 2002 and 2003. His 2005 Tar Heels' team won the national championship. He also took two other Jayhawks teams to the Final Four.

Playing on the final weekend never gets old.

"I've known some really, really good basketball coaches that haven't been lucky enough to go to the Final Four," Williams said. "We're ecstatic about it.

"No team ever goes to the Final Four, plays poorly and wins. If you don't play your best, you'll go home."