by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to a special Selection Sunday edition of the weekly college hoops mailbag. USA TODAY Sports college basketball beat writer Nicole Auerbach takes your questions.

Lots to chat about, so let’s get to it:

@TheTravelingMan: How important is it to have a home crowd during NCAA tourney games (like IU in Indy)?

Auerbach: It’s huge. Especially Indiana fans in Indy. I was there back in December when the Hoosiers played Butler at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and though the Bulldogs pulled off the upset, it was essentially a home Indiana game. That’s a short trip, and Indiana fans are already among the most rabid in the nation. I think this will be a huge advantage for the Hoosiers, just like playing at home has been an advantage for everyone this season (cough, TCU, cough Penn State). You know how hard Assembly Hall is to play at, right? Imagine, say, 75% of that environment. This is why the NCAA has rules against playing NCAA tournament games in venues that teams play in regularly; it’d be too much of a home-court advantage. This skirts around that rule, but should be just as effective.

@DukeHoopBlog: What’s more preferable to coaches in the NCAA tournament: day games or night games that they’re used to?

Auerbach: Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to poll coaches or see how teams did during day games vs. night games to get you an answer here. Apologies! But I do think this is a really interesting question. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that NCAA teams do play day games during the season – Saturdays and Sundays. Even a team like Duke has played during the day. So it’s not that rare. A few days ago, Miami coach Jim Larranaga was talking about how difficult it might be for his team to get up/ready for noon games at the ACC tournament. The ‘Canes obviously figured it out and are playing in the ACC title game later today, but it was interesting that Larranaga brought it up. It’s just a completely different schedule and routine the players have to get used to. … [For more on College Hoops Mailbag: The most NBA-ready player in NCAA tournament?, click here.]