NCAA Possibly Expanding Tournament Field

[Jer]

Best of 3 is a good idea.

I always thought 96 would be good. Top 32 teams get a first round bye. Other 64 teams play. Effectively you'd have the normal 15 and 16 seeds playing teams that would normally be 9's or 10's seeds, so more upsets there, which is fun. The tops seeds would then not be playing the lowest of the lows any more in their first game. They'd be playing bubble type teams in round 1, although they'd have more rest.

Personally I like more basketball, so I have no qualms about expanding it at all.

And I agree with most that you aren't really watering it down all that much. All the pro leagues have more teams that make the post season. College BB is different in that the little guys have a chance, which I think is pretty cool honestly.

Yeah, I personally like the best of 3 in the last couple rounds and think it would be the better revenue option than adding a lot of front-end games. The only downfall is it removes some of the drama of a single game win or go home.

But it's also like Bowl Games - any excuse to get more CFB or CBB is good.

 

[PickSix]

Meh, I've accepted it. It's good for the Big 12, so I'll get behind it.

Just the way college sports is now. Get on board for the additional $$$ or get left behind.

 

[PickSix]

Watch out for the other change where P5 (or whatever we are calling the big schools now) teams get all the added spots.

Wasn't there a proposal a few months ago to get rid of the small conference champs auto-bids?

I do recall the idea being floated, but don't think it was an actual proposal.

I don't think the power brokers want that smoke. Probably more tolerable for the masses to add P4 slots than take away Cinderella slots.

 

[Jer]

Meh, I've accepted it. It's good for the Big 12, so I'll get behind it.

Just the way college sports is now. Get on board for the additional $$$ or get left behind.

While it can't really be "bad" for anybody, I think the Big 12 gets the least out of the expansion. We're THE basketball conference and being able to get 8 teams into the round of 64 demonstrates that every year. The more you expand, the more you let in all those ****** but fringe-looking teams that play in weaker conferences like the Big 10.

 

[Clonehomer]

Not a fan. Coaches like because they think it's harder to fire a coach whose team make the Tournament.

If they are going to expand, why even have Dayton? Where the winners need to travel. Just add games at existing Region sites.

They have Dayton because it’s a whole lot less logistics to have one site running rather than 4. Flights from Dayton are set ahead of time and all that changes are which team gets on the plane.

But if this goes through, I think all they do is add another first four site and still play Tuesdays nd Wednesday evenings. It’s just be too hard to be prepared for Tuesday morning.

As for the coaches job, this is true. But I wouldn’t mind a moratorium on coaching changes until after the tournament. The bigger impact isn’t the coach that stays for another year, it’s the coaches that are looking for advancement while still playing. How many assistant coaches, or head coaches for that matter, are being approached for vacancies while their team is still in the tournament? It’s a terrible distraction for a team that may be having a Cinderella run and isn’t fair to the players.

 

[Clonehomer]

While it can't really be "bad" for anybody, I think the Big 12 gets the least out of the expansion. We're THE basketball conference and being able to get 8 teams into the round of 64 demonstrates that every year. The more you expand, the more you let in all those ****** but fringe-looking teams that play in weaker conferences like the Big 10.

It’s more opportunities for tournament shares for the Big12. Advancement means just as much as getting a bid in terms of money.

 

[cykadelic2]

As for the coaches job, this is true. But I wouldn’t mind a moratorium on coaching changes until after the tournament. The bigger impact isn’t the coach that stays for another year, it’s the coaches that are looking for advancement while still playing. How many assistant coaches, or head coaches for that matter, are being approached for vacancies while their team is still in the tournament? It’s a terrible distraction for a team that may be having a Cinderella run and isn’t fair to the players.

With existing asinine transfer rules, the players are being approached just as much or moreso than coaches.

 

[Clonehomer]

With existing asinine transfer rules, the players are being approached just as much or moreso than coaches.

Agreed. Wish the portal rules were actually enforced. It’ll take a school getting hammered for early contact for anything to change. I just don’t see the NCAA doing that these days.

 

[intrepid27]

Hoks are voting yes

Beat me to it. Mass celebrations in Iowa City at the possibility .

 

[intrepid27]

Am I missing the sarcasm here?

With the change, the NCAA gets 21% of the teams into the tournament. If they just went to 128, that would be 35%. This is how that compares to the pro leagues you listed:
NFL: 44%
NBA: 53%
MLB: 40%
NHL: 50%

I’d prefer that they increase the number of auto-bids (say the regular season and tournament champ, or second place if the same team wins both), but either way it is not like everyone is getting in.

True but there is a HELL of a lot more parity in those leagues.

LOWEST SEED TO...
Make Second Round/Round of 32	No. 16 (2018 UMBC; 2023 FDU)
Make Sweet 16	No. 15 (2013 Florida Gulf Coast; 2021 Oral Roberts; 2022 Saint Peter's; 2023 Princeton)
Make Elite Eight	No. 15 (2022 Saint Peter's)
Make Final Four	No. 11 (1986 LSU; 2006 George Mason; 2011 VCU; 2018 Loyola Chicago; 2021 UCLA; 2024 NC State)
Make championship game	No. 8 (1985 Villanova; 2011 Butler; 2014 Kentucky; 2022 North Carolina)
Win title	No. 8 (1985 Villanova)

 

[exCYtable]

Need to do the opposite, go back to 64 and get rid of the stupid play in games.

But how would Iowa ever make the field?

 

[Clonehomer]

But how would Iowa ever make the field?

Their fan base seems to have adjusted to the new reality. They now consider the NIT to be an accomplishment that deserves a banner.

 

[WooBadger18]

True but there is a HELL of a lot more parity in those leagues.

LOWEST SEED TO...
Make Second Round/Round of 32	No. 16 (2018 UMBC; 2023 FDU)
Make Sweet 16	No. 15 (2013 Florida Gulf Coast; 2021 Oral Roberts; 2022 Saint Peter's; 2023 Princeton)
Make Elite Eight	No. 15 (2022 Saint Peter's)
Make Final Four	No. 11 (1986 LSU; 2006 George Mason; 2011 VCU; 2018 Loyola Chicago; 2021 UCLA; 2024 NC State)
Make championship game	No. 8 (1985 Villanova; 2011 Butler; 2014 Kentucky; 2022 North Carolina)
Win title	No. 8 (1985 Villanova)

Sure, but again, that’s different than “participation trophy” and “what is the point of the regular season? Everyone’s getting in.”

 

[madguy30]

People will argue that “they’ve expanded the tournament lots of times and it’s fine” but the next expansion is where the scale tips from a competitive standpoint. Not that it really matters.

I'm in thar boat and it's always been driven by eyeballs and 64 is the Sweet spot.

But we'll survive. College basketball overall has been pretty 'meh' in recent years anyway so whatever.

 

[Buster28]

What's next? A 64 team play-in tournament to see who #s 65-68 are? THEN those four get to lose in the first (actual) round? It's all so dumb. So tired of the constant competition to see who can ring the most money out of a collegiate sporting event. I barely watched this past tournament, especially once ISU was out (in both tourneys). I can't imagine my viewership improving with changes like this being considered.

 

[ricochet]

Make it so all conference tournament winners go into the 64 team field. All regular season champs that don’t get in, automatically qualify for the play in tournament and fill it out with probably middle of the pack P5 teams. Make it clear that the play in games are not NCAA tournament games. I‘d be OK with that.

 

[NWICY]

I don't like it

NCAA presents expanded basketball tournament models that could grow Big Dance to 72, 76 teams

The NCAA Tournament could be expanding up to 76 teams as soon as 2025-26 season

www.cbssports.com

I agree with you the puke emoji was for the idea of a expanded tourney.

 

[cyclone87]

Expand a play-in tourney for the bubble high major teams. See what you can get from TV or streaming. Leave the main tourney where it is. Cheapens it to expand further, it’s still kind of special at this point to make the tourney.

 

[NWICY]

Most of those league are halfway there. Teams hovering around or below .500 are making the playoffs.

Edit: @WooBadger18 did the math for me

Teams with a losing record should never be in the playoffs. Yes I know it happens but it shouldn't. 64 was fine for the tourney. The play in games suck and more play in games will just suck more.

 

[Cyclone Pfan]

I don't like it

NCAA presents expanded basketball tournament models that could grow Big Dance to 72, 76 teams

The NCAA Tournament could be expanding up to 76 teams as soon as 2025-26 season

www.cbssports.com

I hope the B12, ACC, and Big East all demand the extra slots get assigned to them just as the B10 and SEC demanded for the football playoff. Also... unequal distributions to those 3 conferences just as B10 and SEC receive for football playoffs.