It's not called the Big Dance for nothing. The free four-day party surrounding the men’s NCAA Final Four boasts so many big-name acts, it threatens to overshadow the Division I championship basketball taking place inside the Alamodome. Not sure where to start? Here's our take on the top four bands playing at the Final Four.

FRIDAY, APRIL 4: FALL OUT BOY

Best known for their pop-punk sensibility combined with ..... oh, wait, Fall Out Boy is actually best known for nude photos of bassist Pete Wentz posted on the Internet in 2006. And Wentz's relationship with pop “singer” Ashlee Simpson. But somewhere in there, the Chicago quartet released the double-platinum “From Under the Cork Tree” and “Infinity on High,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 last year and garnered a Grammy nomination for best new artist.

Also playing Friday: St. Louis indie rock band Ludo, whose major-label debut CD “You're Awful, I Love You” was released in February; The Roots, a hip-hop/soul outfit that's been around in various forms for more than two decades

SATURDAY, APRIL 5: KID ROCK

No one is as classy as this Detroit-born “Pimp of the Nation.” He's been married to Pamela Anderson, divorced from Pamela Anderson, gotten in a fistfight over Pamela Anderson with Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards and always looks like he needs a bath. The Kid made his name with rap-rock but his hits include the ubiquitous pop-country ditty “Picture,” a duet with Sheryl Crow. His most recent album, last year's “Rock N Roll Jesus,” made it to No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200.

Also playing: Puddle of Mudd, whose hits include “Control,” “She Hates Me” and “Psycho,” which is currently topping the rock charts; Meridianwest, an up-and-coming Austin rock trio

SUNDAY, APRIL 6: TAYLOR SWIFT

This Pennsylvania-born country singer can't yet drink legally but she was nominated for a 2008 Grammy for best new artist (she lost to Amy Winehouse). “I was 16 years old and wrote all these songs about being in high school and sophomore relationships, not thinking that people would relate to it, hoping they would,” Swift, now 18, told Reuters in March. Apparently, people did relate: She has sold more than 2 million copies of her self-titled debut album. Her hits include “Tim McGraw” and “Teardrops on My Guitar.”

3 DOORS DOWN

These rockers burst onto the scene with “How You Remind Me” — oh, wait, that's Nickelback. Sorry, easy mistake. 3 Doors Down is the one that first hit it big with “Kryptonite” in 2000 and is currently on the charts with the single “It's Not My Time.” The Escatawpa, Miss., alt-rock band prides itself on its power chords. "People forgot how to play the guitar," frontman Brad Arnold told the San Antonio Express-News in 2006. “That's one thing we tried to put back into rock 'n' roll songs, lots of guitars.”

Also playing Sunday: Kumbia All Starz, who are touring behind their latest CD, “Planeta Kumbia”; All-American Rejects, the power-pop foursome from Oklahoma who scored hits with “Move Along” and “Dirty Little Secret”

Playing Monday: Texas singer/songwriter Robert Earl Keen, who has been churning out hits since 1984; Austin singer/songwriter Bob Schneider, who blends rock, country and folk; local pop/rock band the Krayolas, who first hit it big in the 1970s and made a comeback in 2007; Mingo Fishtrap, an eight-piece funk band from Austin
 

Jessica Belasco | 210SA contributor