College Bball
NCAA Tournament expanding to 96 teams?!?!?
96. The only good thing I can recall that ever came from that number was in 1996 when the Chicago Bulls set the NBA record going 72-10 in the regular season and eventually winning the NBA finals. That team was stacked.
But, with the rumors of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament possibly expanding to 96 teams as soon as next year as reported here, it makes me want to vomit. I understand it’s ALL and I mean All about the money on behalf of the NCAA, but as reports say, the expanded field would add 31 games to the tourney and that is just plain wrong. If this move happens, it will absolutely water down the appeal of what March Madness is today. I’m quite confident the NCAA tourney already brings in an inordinate amount of mula, and things are getting beyond greediness.
As of right now according to CBS Sports RPI rankings, a 9-10 Georgia team is 84th. I know the RPI doesn’t solely determine the field, but with it expanding to 96 teams, it will be a much larger factor, and a team that is under .500 can not be considered to making the Big Dance. There is only one positive to expanding the field and it is money. From a fan stand point, this is the worst decision the NCAA could make. March Madness is already exceptional at 65 teams, why add another 31 teams? With 65 teams, the bubble talk around selection Sunday is very intriguing, but with this rumored expansion, we really wouldn’t have many teams on the bubble. How will the selection be able to decide who is the 96th team compared to the 97th team? The expansion of the tourney will not only put extra stress on the players and coaches, but it will bring added pressure on the Selection committee on choosing the right teams.
Sources from ESPN are saying that the only thing holding this deal back is reaching a TV agreement.
If the NCAA believes they are adding more parity and fairness to the Big Dance, they are dead wrong. The traditional powers will still prevail when it’s all said and done, and the expansion ruins the meaning of the regular season. The field at 65 already dilutes the regular season a bit, but adding 31 more teams will encourage the great teams to not play at their highest level possible and big matchups during the regular season will be nearly meaningless.
Expanding the tournament will not add more excitement if that is what the NCAA thinks will happen. It will only add teams that are not deserving to play on after the regular season, and it will result in more blowouts and boring games. Nobody wants to see teams that are 5-11 in conference play advancing to the Big Dance. It’s just completely irrational on the NCAA’s part. A team must earn their way into the field of 65, not back their way into it.
How is the NCAA going to divide up the seeds? Are they going to add more number one seeds? I definitely do not seeing that being a positive. Are there going to be more 16 seeds? Those seeds never had a chance in the first place, and it will add an even bigger gap between the great and less fortunate teams. We will have less major upsets and the new tourney will weed out the undeserving teams more quickly. I absolutely see no positives to this expansion, and the tournament will most likely start sooner, shortening the regular season and pushing up the conference tournaments. March Madness will no longer be in March, the final rounds will extend even further into April.
I do not see this idea succeeding and I may not even support the college basketball outside of the Iowa Hawkeyes any longer. Expansion will dilute the Big Dance to the max, the NCAA needs to get it’s head out of the gutter and realize it is not all about the money.
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