The NCAA's logo for the Final Four was examined by Will
Higgins of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS under the header
"Final Four Logo Lacks Local Flavor." Higgins wrote that
Indianapolis "doesn't have anything. Which makes it hard --
no, impossible -- for the NCAA's graphic designers to do
their job, which is to come up with a really fetching Final
Four logo, one that incorporates some of the host city's
flavor -- and doesn't boost another sport." NCAA Graphic
Artist Vic Royal said it was "pretty tough" to design an
Indy Final Four logo. Royal: "Indy ended up being pretty
generic. I'm not particularly proud of it." The current
logo features a basketball with Final Four on top of it in
big letters and Indianapolis below in small letters. Royal
said he originally tried to base a logo around the
Indianapolis 500, and an early logo consisted of a
checkered-flag background. But the NCAA Basketball
Operations committee "shot it down," saying the logo
"trumpeted a competing sporting event." In addition, CBS
has "revised the logo slightly" as it has removed the word
Indianapolis" from it (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 3/25).
