The Final Four at Reliant Stadium established a new standard for the event's highest total attendance — 145,747.

Those numbers were much more palatable than the ones posted by Connecticut and Butler on Monday during a universally panned title game won by the Huskies 53-41.

But not even a lackluster final could dampen the enthusiasm generated in a city that hadn't hosted the Final Four in 40 years.

"This is what a showcase, what a national championship should feel like," NCAA interim executive vice president of championships Greg Shaheen said Tuesday. "It was exactly what we hoped it would be."

Which is good for Houston, since the Final Four returns in 2016.