I noticed something while watching the Final Four over the last few days, and I am wondering if anyone else realized the same thing. For years, CBS has sent its studio crew to the site of the Final Four. This year they did not. Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, and Seth Davis broadcast both their pre, and post-game shows, inside CBS’ New York Studio.

It’s the first time in a long time I can remember the crew not being at the game. Why didn’t CBS just send the studio crew to the site? Is it a money issue? That’s one of the few explanations I can think of.

In general, I don’t think the network’s coverage suffered that much because the crew wasn’t in San Antonio. CBS set up an on-site studio in San Antonio, which allowed Gumbel and company to interview people like John Calipari on Saturday night, and Roy Williams on Monday night.

Still, as a sports fan, I think it adds something to an event, when an entire studio crew is on-site, especially at something as big as the Final Four. At almost every big sporting event, you see a network bring its entire crew to the game for a series of live broadcasts.

Comparatively, at the Women’s Final Four in Tampa, ESPN sent down its regular women’s college hoops studio team of Trey Wingo, Kara Lawson, and Stacey Dales.

If you’re going to invest all the money to show the Final Four on your network, you should at least save a little extra so that your entire coverage team can be there.