Milwaukee ? The suits at the NCAA offices have received plaudits from all corners of the nation in the wake of their decision to restructure the early rounds of the 2002 men’s basketball tournament.

You should notice the differences today during CBS’ selection show, when the 65-team field is revealed. The primary cosmetic difference in the bracket will be that there will be four sub-regional sites rather than two within each of the four regions.

From a practical and logistical standpoint, you’ll see more of the top-seeded teams playing closer to home as the NCAA attempts to cut down on travel for teams and fans.

But the new format could turn out to hurt the feel and flavor of the tournament by giving the higher-seeded teams another advantage, one they don’t need.

This year, you’ll probably see Maryland playing in the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., Duke playing at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, S.C., Pittsburgh at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh and … well, you get the point.

Such arrangements probably will provide too much of a home-court advantage to teams that don’t need another break.

Do you really think No. 15 Hampton would have defeated No. 2 Iowa State last season if the game had been played in an arena anywhere near Ames? Perhaps. But the odds certainly would have been considerably longer.

And early-round surprises have provided fans and historians some of the more cherished memories through the years.

We don’t need to see a Valparaiso reach the Final Four to appreciate that on a given night Homer Drew’s team can compete with a big-name school. A first-round victory over Mississippi and a subsequent Sweet 16 berth, in 1998, were good enough.

Hampton’s second-round loss to Georgetown last season didn’t diminish our feelings for the Pirates. We can still see the madness after the final buzzer sounded against Iowa State: a Hampton player lifting coach Steve Merfeld off the floor, with Merfeld pumping his fists and kicking his legs with unabashed glee.

What might result from the new changes are powerful teams from the power conferences getting even the slightest additional edge.

The women’s NCAA Tournament has been criticized for allowing the top four seeded teams in each regional to play host to a sub-regional. The decision is based on the bottom line, since attendance would suffer if the early rounds were moved to neutral sites.

Yet the men’s committee has taken a step in that direction.

There are two other reasons critics dislike the new format, which will feature a quartet of four-team pods within each regional. One affects the players, the other the fans.

First, because the sub-regional sites are selected years in advance and are played on different dates, it is again possible that some teams in the regional semifinals will have an extra day of rest.

A small edge, to be sure, but any edge is seen as unfair.

Limiting travel in the early rounds is a prudent fiscal decision. But the NCAA might find that it is creating more problems than it hoped to solve.