There was more anticipation than anxiety in the players' lounge on this particular Selection Sunday at Michigan. Nobody sweated whether they would hear Greg Gumbel announcing the Wolverines' name on a bracket as the CBS broadcast dwindled down to its final minutes. They knew long ago they would dance.

Where they would take their dance card was the pressing concern.

There were equal parts relief and rejoicing among the players when they learned they would join Michigan State at the Palace on Thursday for their NCAA tournament openers. Auburn Hills alleviated some of the disappointment of falling to a No. 4 seed.

"We cheered loudly when we saw our name next to Auburn Hills," said junior center Jordan Morgan. "I don't think we even knew at first what the seeding was. It didn't matter. Wherever they seeded us, we were going to play a very good team. It was more important knowing that we're playing close to home."

But whatever comfort wrought from a one-hour drive from campus might be short-lived considering who else the NCAA selection committee threw into Michigan's Palace pod. The Wolverines will open against a No. 13 seed led by a big scoring point guard that some NBA experts think could be a late first-round pick this summer. And if the Wolverines get past South Dakota State, they might encounter VCU, which just two years ago graduated from the opening night play-in game to the Final Four.

This is the flip side of parity.

It was Michigan's friend during a grueling Big Ten season in which it crawled to the finish line, often gasping for air as the Wolverines won as many as they lost in their last 12 conference games.

Flawed?

"Absolutely, but so is everybody else in the country" became the Wolverines' favorite comfort food the last six weeks.

Bruised and battered?

"Yeah, but who wasn't wearing scars in a conference as nightly punishing as the Big Ten was this season?" offered solace.

But the problem with parity that many casually forgot as the Wolverines hung around the top 10 nationally all season is that with more teams bunched together in this tournament than perhaps ever before, you're going to face teams closer to your competitive level much earlier in the tournament than previously.

"It's not just the teams in the big conferences anymore," warned Trey Burke. "We know that we have to be ready because the mid-major conferences are getting great players and getting big wins. If we're not playing our best, we could be in trouble. But I think we all understand that and are prepared for it."

South Dakota State senior guard Nate Wolters is one of the nation's leading scorers. He was probably more White Castle than McDonald's high school All-America, but he's already attracting interest from NBA scouts.

VCU coach Shaka Smart turned down the Illinois coaching job last year because he's angling for a bigger upgrade - like maybe UCLA - if he waited another year.

Parity means that nobody's afraid of anybody any longer.

The Wolverines insist their late struggles were simply the result of navigating the Big Ten mine field. But John Beilein's defining moment in six seasons at Michigan wasn't sitting atop the country for seven days this season, but not lasting one game in last year's NCAA tournament, also as a four seed.

"I feel great about our season," he said. "We had 26 wins. We're talking about bounces of the ball and scheduling. I feel really good about how our team is playing. With the roster we put out there, this was a heck of a year."

But there's no guarantee that it can't end quickly despite how close to home they're playing.