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There's a team from the West in the Final Four for the first time since 2008. There are TWO teams from the West for only the third time ever.

It's also the first time that teams from conferences that include both Utah (Pac-12, Oregon) and BYU (West Coast, Gonzaga) have made it.

Which speaks really well of the caliber of college basketball being played in this part of the country. But it doesn't matter much to CBS, which will broadcast the games.

"A lot of people in the East don't realize what's going on in that Pac-12," said CBS analyst Bill Raftery in a conference call. "UCLA, Arizona and Oregon are terrific basketball teams. Of course, Gonzaga, because of the West Coast Conference, a lot of people have overlooked them."

Of course. Sigh.

"I think it's going to open up eyes to how really good these teams are," Raftery said. "I think it's healthy."

Despite UCLA's 18 Final Four appearances, and including Utah's four, the West has totaled just 53 appearances; the South (including North and South Carolina) has totaled 130.

This weekend, it's Gonzaga vs. South Carolina at 4:09 p.m. Saturday, and North Carolina vs. Oregon 40 minutes after the first game concludes — both on CBS/Ch. 2.

"It's been a really good year for basketball on the West Coast," Turner analyst Grant Hill said. "I think it's only fitting that we get representation there from two great programs."

But TV sports are all about the ratings. And CBS and Turner, which are in their seventh year of partnering on the tournament, have been breaking viewership records left and right — on broadcast, cable and online.

It's commonly believed that having teams from different regions is better for ratings. That the best thing would be teams from four different regions to draw more viewers to the semifinals Saturday and Monday's championship game (7 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2).

But having two teams from the East Coast and two teams from the West Coast isn't a bad thing — even though none of the four is from a major television market.

"Anytime you have kind of bi-coastal representation, it doesn't hurt," CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said. "And I think people have enjoyed watching the brand of basketball that Oregon and Gonzaga run. So I think it could definitely help.

"But I will say that the ratings are primarily going to be determined by the closeness of the games and the excitement surrounding the games."

If the oddsmakers are right and Saturday's games are decided by 3 to 7 points, that's good for CBS. (And good for Turner, which shares all the ad revenue 50-50 with its broadcast partner.)

If, on the other hand, one or — heaven forbid — both of the games turn into blowouts, that could be a very bad thing. A lot has been written about how poorly the Final Four did in the ratings airing on TBS for the first time last year, but Turner Sports president David Levy points to the fact that North Carolina beat Syracuse by 17 in one semifinal and Villanova beat Oklahoma by 44 in the other.

"That led to a very challenging start to the final game," said Levy, adding that "the ratings were growing in the back end" of Villanova's three-point win over North Carolina in the final. "It's really going to be about the matchups and the closeness of the games."

"I'm happy that we have some broad, national distribution," McManus said, "but I'll be even happier if the games are close."

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.