The NCAA Division I tournament's expansion to 16 teams this season meant the end of first-round doubleheaders at two predetermined sites, a venture that experienced moderate success from its inception in 1996 through last year.

Eight first-round games this season drew an average of 2,220 fans, ranging from 4,220 at Syracuse to 1,155 at Virginia. The average did not beat any average from first-round doubleheader play the last seven seasons, but it does compare favorably years prior to '96, when first-round games were played on campuses of participating teams.

In only two years from 1988 (first year records are available) through 1995 was the average first-round attendance higher than this year. In 1993, Army, Hofstra and Navy each generated crowds above 4,100 to boost the average attendance to 3,776, one year after Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Maryland and Navy drew and average of 2,346.

This weekend's quarterfinal doubleheaders should do well at the gate, despite the fact that several regional cable television outlets will broadcast the games live. Saturday's games are at Syracuse, which annually leads the nation in home attendance and hosts a championship game rematch with Princeton.

In the south, Towson is hosting its first quarterfinal game since 1992, when temporary bleachers had to be installed at then 5,000-seat Minnegan Stadium to accommodate the 7,812 fans for the Tigers' matchup with Hopkins. With the two local rivals set to square off again, along with nearby teams Georgetown and Virginia, newly-expanded Towson Stadium could have its 11,198-capacity taxed for the first time.

Over 23,000 ticket packages have been sold for the men's Divisions I, II and III championship weekend May 24-26 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Single day tickets will go on sale next Friday.

On the women's side, the Divisions I and III championships weekend move north for the first time since 1984. Syracuse will sandwich its men's quarterfinal Saturday with tonight's women's Division I semifinals and Sunday's championship game.

For the second consecutive year the Division III semifinals and final are at a separate site. St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., will host semifinals tomorrow and the championship Sunday. Upstate New York is the furthest north the women's championships have been held since they took place at Boston University 19 years ago.

All-inclusive ticket packages for the weekend at Syracuse means the attendance record for the Division I championship game of 4,996, set in 1999 for Maryland vs. Virginia at Johns Hopkins, could fall on a paid-attendance basis, i.e., tickets distributed. Actual crowds could vary.

Last year Loyola hosted an announced crowd of 3,400 for the Princeton-Georgetown championship. The defending champion Tigers are back, along with Maryland, which won seven straight titles prior to last year, Virginia, and top-seeded Loyola. Fans could travel to see the Division III contests featuring Amherst/College of New Jersey and William Smith/Middlebury, as Rochester is about an hour's drive from Syracuse.