There's a football side to the Final Four, too.

It starts with football still driving the revenue bus at each school with a basketball team set to take the court in Minneapolis. Auburn may have been a long shot in the Midwest Regional -- with bluebloods North Carolina and Kentucky in the building -- but the Tigers, by far, had the highest athletic budget of the four teams in Kansas City at $147.5 million.

There's an explanation: Auburn's football expenditures are third in the country, second in its own state.

For only the second time since 2012, all of the Final Four participants are from Power Five conferences. It's time, then, for a football fantasy: What if the Final Four teams played each other on the gridiron?

I try to parachute in each year, summarizing the football fortunes of each Final Four participant. We are taking it a step further this year, predicting how the four would do in their own mini-football tournament. Call it the Football Four.

At least the structure of this football fantasy looks a lot like the College Football Playoff -- four of the five Power Five conferences are represented, none of them the Pac-12.

Football is king? You bet. One of the four is home to the 2018 NFL MVP (Texas Tech). Auburn (BCS title game after the 2013 season) and Michigan State (2015 CFP) have been recent championship participants.

Here are there real-world football fortunes at the moment, along with imaginary results on the field.

Texas Tech

This program produced that MVP, now-Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. It has also produced some of the best offenses in college football. What Kliff Kingsbury couldn't do is get the Red Raiders to play a lick of defense.

That's why, after six years of Kingsbury, he was replaced by Matt Wells. Athletic director Kirby Hocutt wanted "physicality" (his word). He got a guy who left his alma mater (Utah State) after winning at least nine games in half of his six seasons.

This is Wells' Power Five moment. Get ready for an end  -- or at least a significant alteration -- to the Air Raid at Texas Tech. Under Wells, Utah State almost had a 50-50 split run/pass.

"It's based on one thing -- points scored," Wells told some Dallas boosters during the spring. "That will be the goal -- to score often and to score fast."

Wells, 45, comes highly recommended. Hocutt was a one-man search committee, relying on the likes of Bob Stoops for input. Wells may not produce an NFL MVP, but in Year 1, he inherits Alan Bowman, who was on his way to a 4,000-yard season before suffering a collapsed lung against Oklahoma.

Wells' defenses finished in the top three of the Mountain West in four of his six seasons. If Texas Tech can play average defense, Wells will make them forget Kingsbury quickly -- because that's all it takes in the offense-crazy Big 12.

Michigan State

Mark Dantonio has another bounce-back season ahead of him. Well, hopefully. The Spartans finished a disappointing 7-6, struggling mightily on offense in 2018.

Things got away from Coach D as his bread and butter was 11th in total defense and 115th in total offense. Quarterback Brian Lewerke regressed mightily, going from 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2017 to eight touchdowns and 11 picks last season.

Key injuries to the offensive line and at receiver were to blame. Lewerke himself injured his throwing shoulder. But this is a program that plays in perhaps the toughest division in college football, the Big Ten East.

Dantonio didn't fire any coaches, choosing to shuffle them around. Quarterbacks coach Brad Salem is now the offensive coordinator. The entire unit just has to get healthy and better.

The East will be unforgiving. The Spartans travel to Ohio State and Michigan, as well as Wisconsin.

Football Four semifinal: Texas Tech 28, Michigan State 23

Auburn

The moment the buzzer sounded Sunday at the Midwest Regional, I turned to Gus Malzahn (sitting in the first row) and said, "The pressure's on."  He responded, "The pressure is on every day."

While basketball success is a welcome value-add, Auburn football must be excellent each season. That's where it's complicated. In the first year of a seven-year, $49 million contract, Malzahn went 8-5 in 2018, finishing fifth in the SEC West.

In 2019, Alabama is a given in the West. Texas A&M is projected to be the "it" team in the division. LSU isn't going away.

After the departure of Jarrett Stidham, the quarterback job is up for grabs. There is a lot of interest in five-star prospect Bo Nix. If he's ready right away, a one-year downturn after a 2017 division championship will be tolerated. The entire offensive line returns.

New running backs coach Cadillac Williams will receive a warm welcome. It will be even warmer if he can develop JaTarvious Whitlow (787 yards, six rushing touchdowns).

Virginia

Bronco Mendenhall has had an encouraging start east of the Rockies. After bottoming out at 2-10 in his first season (2016), the Cavaliers have improved each of the last two years. The former BYU coach, who has spent nearly his entire career out West, has proven he has a Power Five future.

The Cavaliers went 8-5 last season, winning eight for the first time since 2011. The 14 combined wins the last two seasons were last surpassed in 2004-05. 

A replacement for receiver Olamide Zaccheaus must be found. Zaccheaus led the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns from the position. Quarterback Bryce Perkins is recovering from a broken left pinkie.

Perkins is back throwing in the spring, which is significant. He and Kyler Murray were the only two FBS players last season to throw for at least 2,600 yards and rush for 900 more.

Football Four semifinal: Auburn 19, Virginia 17

And that brings us to the final game …

Football Four championship: Auburn 25, Texas Tech 24